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Writing Guide with Handbook

(11 reviews)

program writing pdf

Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Spelman College

Maria Jerskey, City University of New York

Toby Fulwiller, University of Vermont

Copyright Year: 2021

ISBN 13: 9781951693473

Publisher: OpenStax

Language: English

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Reviewed by Sarah Summers, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Franklin College on 1/8/24

The text does a nice job of covering both rhetorical theory and various genres common in first-year writing, including personal essays, a variety of analytical genres, and research essays. There is also a strong focus on process. The handbook is... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text does a nice job of covering both rhetorical theory and various genres common in first-year writing, including personal essays, a variety of analytical genres, and research essays. There is also a strong focus on process. The handbook is an excellent addition to the text and would be useful both as a reference for students and for short readings for targeted revisions throughout a course. The handbook is also linked back to the main text, reinforcing the connections between the two.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is accurate, particularly in its inclusion of rhetorical terms.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The text uses very relevant themes including digital writing/social media, diversity, and identity. There are several contemporary examples (e.g., Selena Gomez and Kevin Hart) that will potential read as outdated quickly. That said, I like the balance between traditional/canonical texts (e.g., Du Bois) and more contemporary examples and topics like climate change and sustainability. One of my favorite features of this text is the use of annotations embedded in readings and student examples, which I think helps students see the relevance of readings.

Clarity rating: 5

Very clear in its writing and explanation of terms. The text uses a straightforward tone that I think would be appealing to students.

Consistency rating: 5

The text is consistent in its terminology, and each section is organized in roughly the same way.

Modularity rating: 5

The text is very modular with short, focused sections within each chapter. It would be easy to pick and choose sections of the text for a course and use the sections that most align with the assigned writing. There's also a portfolio thread that weaves throughout every chapter. It could build across the semester but would also be easy to use those sections together in a stand-alone assignment.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The text is well organized and the section titles are easy to navigate and find relevant topics. One potential drawback is that the rhetorical terms and concepts are introduced throughout the text. I tend to frontload that material. For example, ethos/pathos/logos are cover in 9.1 as part of the rhetorical analysis assignment, but I would be likely to pull those out and cover them early in the course and not necessarily tied to a specific assignment.

Interface rating: 5

No problems with either the online version or the .pdf.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The book is culturally responsive and includes a diverse range of authors and topics including racial equity, poverty, and climate action. It also includes a section on pronouns that specifically addresses equity for gender non-binary and transgender people.

Many of the sections have templates for students to use to jump start writing as well as suggested activities and questions, which I found useful and very like the kinds of activities I would design for first-year writing.

Reviewed by Justin Young, Associate Professor of English, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 12/8/23

The text effectively covers all of genres that are commonly assigned in first-year college writing courses. read more

The text effectively covers all of genres that are commonly assigned in first-year college writing courses.

I don't have any concerns about the text's accuracy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This is a particularly relevant writing textbook because of it's focus on inclusiveness and equity, and it effectively addresses the relationship between writing and intersectional identities, as well as academic writing and diverse personal literacies.

The text is clearly written and new terms are consistently defined throughout.

The structure of the text is very consistent, as each chapter follows the same format.

Modularity rating: 4

It is very easy to pull out and use individual whole chapters of the text. However, it is more of a challenge to pull out parts of chapters. Another issue to note is that the text is very "wordy." In other words, chapters are organized around long chunks of text that I worry can be intimidating to students.

The text is organized in an effective and coherent manner, although it may take users a bit of time to understand the logic of the organization.

It's very easy to navigate and use the text online.

I have no concerns about grammatical errors in the text.

As I noted above, one of the strengths of the text is that it focused- in terms of both content (readings) and theme on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion. Many of the readings are by diverse authors and about topics of diversity and equity.

Overall, this is a high quality textbook that is similar in quality to many non-OER first-year composition texts.

Reviewed by Jason Meier, English Instructor, Rochester Community & Technical College on 6/26/23

Writing Guide is very comprehensive, comparable to expensive texts with combined reader, rhetoric, and handbook. This text contains all of the assignments I currently use in my college composition class (narrative, problem-solution, rhetorical... read more

Writing Guide is very comprehensive, comparable to expensive texts with combined reader, rhetoric, and handbook. This text contains all of the assignments I currently use in my college composition class (narrative, problem-solution, rhetorical analysis, annotated bibliography, and argument) and much more, a total of twelve commonly assigned college essays. Both MLA and APA documentation are covered, and I appreciate how Database, Print, and Online source examples are shown side-by-side so that students can better understand the differences without having to flip through multiple pages.

The content is accurate. Much of the content is presented in the way that I have presenting writing content for years.

In general, writing textbooks do not age quickly, so this isn't as big of an issue as, let's say, fields like nursing. That being said, this text does contain up-to-date subjects such as social media. The MLA documentation section does present the 8th edition of MLA, rather than the newer 9th edition; however, I've continued to allow my students to use the 8th edition of MLA since there were not that many changes. As for APA, the current 7th edition is presented.

As a person who detests jargon-filled overly complex academic prose, I can attest that this text is accessible to a wide audience.

I do not see any problems with consistency.

The reader and rhetoric sections of the text are well divided into manageable parts that can be easily linked.

However, the handbook sections could use more divisions. For example, the section on punctuation contains all punctuation lumped together. While I can certainly understand why the author would not want too many hyperlinks in the text, my preference is for more so that I can provide students with more focused links so they do not also need to scroll to find the information I want them to concentrate on.

Well organized. My only problem has been with Unit 2, the rhetoric section, which is labeled "Bridging the Divide between Personal Identity and Academia." I have sometimes had to spend a bit more time digging to find the assignments/modes I'm looking for because it's not apparent that this is the rhetoric section of the text. Of course, I may be illustrated my own impatience since my digging probably takes up no more than 30 additional seconds.

I have not had any problems with interface.

I have not found significant grammatical errors.

With readings and/or spotlights by/on authors such as Selena Gomez, Cathy Park Hong, W.E.B. Du Bois, Atul Gawande, and Ta-Nehisi Coates and subjects such as multilingual writers; language, identity, and culture; and antiracism and inclusivity, this text is certainly inclusive.

Reviewed by Alicia Conroy, Faculty of English, Normandale Community College on 4/2/23

As a book primarily focused on genre-specific writing situations for well-prepared college students, this book is very comprehensive, offering 12 genres plus additional chapters related to research-supported writing and the handbook component.... read more

As a book primarily focused on genre-specific writing situations for well-prepared college students, this book is very comprehensive, offering 12 genres plus additional chapters related to research-supported writing and the handbook component. These options include more conventional first-year writing purposes such as proposals, evaluations, and position arguments. A strength is the additional and culturally responsible sections on "language, identity and culture" and "bridging the divide between personal identity and academia", which have models and critical frameworks to help students explore and value their own culture and languages and to write with respect and openness about others' experiences.

Practices and terms are generally "standard" and consistent with current nomenclature, including those related rhetoric and writing process, digital literacy, and inclusion and diversity. Selected readings are identified responsibly and annotations of such readings faithfully summarize and analyze the content without distortion.

This book may need to be updated within three to five years as needed due to changes in the fields of digital literacy, documentation styles and requirements (i.e. APA and MLA), cultural studies and inclusion, (Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, etc.), neuroscience related to learning and language processes, and legislation impacting or limiting what can be taught in various states in the U.S. The text is aimed at students entering college who are well-prepared with basic writing and 12-grade reading skills. The loss of college placement processes, teach-to-test practices in high school, and learning losses during the Covid-19 pandemic mean that this book has weaker relevance to students who struggle with completing basic essays and need more instruction on basics of writing process, paragraphing, and sentence control.

This text is accessible to students with 11-12 grade reading level and includes good lists of relevant terminology for varied rhetorical structures, writing strategies, critical thinking, etc. Annotations of some readings further aid clarity for students. The language & style are academic but not dismissive or condescending, although occasionally I felt it could be more student-centered and less directive.

This book's voice, organization method, and means of scaffolding major points and supporting details is very consistent throughout each unit.

The modules are fairly good in terms of being able to stand alone, though there are some chapters that build on terms and concepts introduced in earlier chapters. In at least one case, the order of chapters puts summary of an issue before the details of that issue; i.e., the specifics on a particular writing issue (stages of writing process and related strategies) appear in ch. 3 but the stages are discussed in a minimal way and without depth in ch. 2. The different writing genre info stands alone and some of the writing process and broad strategies used for multiple genres could be broken out in a separate chapter of as part of the handbook instead, to improve modularity. An advantage would be allowing instructors to choose or ignore some such chapters depending on the range and level of student competencies.

Organization overall is good, with a framework within units and chapters used consistently. As noted above, some issues in ordering and introduction of certain writing-related taks and processes good be better organized to facilitate modularity. The research-related genres and skills are grouped together in the outline.

This is an area of strength, with the hyper links I tested functioning. One bug or failing is that table of contents for some early chapters stops after Unit I - chapter 3, and only upon going back to the Home page and re-choosing the table of contents does the reader see and access the whole list of chapters.

This appears to have been well edited.

The tone and word choice as well as variety of text examples shows sensitivity and up-to-date nomenclature for people of various cultures, ethnicities, abilities, and sexual orientation/ gender status. Furthermore the text often discusses alternative terms and language and points out debates about how people speak about varied identities and groups; the language remains neutral and explanatory and encourages growth mindset and curiosity about perspectives and differences. The one weak spot was the framework for an assignment aimed at explaining culture to someone of a different culture. Some of the assumptions and descriptions could be seen as "othering" students of nondominant groups (whether racial, neuroatypical, etc.) - who are often asked or required to defend or validate their identities as part of being determined outside the white, heteronormative, male-centered dominant culture.

I would consider adopting part or all of this book, though to fit my current student population of first-year writing students at a community college without reading and writing placement requirement and a rigorous common course outline, I'd need also more supporting chapters to use for students who are not optimally prepared in reading and basic writing process and strategy skills.

Reviewed by Aimee Taylor, Assistant Professor, Clarke University on 1/9/23

This guide is appropriately comprehensive for first year and developing college writers. It covers, most importantly, the writing process. It also engages students in thought work about rhetorical effectiveness, information literacy, and... read more

This guide is appropriately comprehensive for first year and developing college writers. It covers, most importantly, the writing process. It also engages students in thought work about rhetorical effectiveness, information literacy, and argumentation. The included handbook makes it helpful and easy to incorporate. Students will not have to access two separate texts to have a guide and handbook. This is great for planning and streamlining.

From my understanding of the topic, this text is highly accurate.

This text deals with contemporary issues that students will find valuable and important, like social media, demystifying college writing, cultural awareness, decolonization, antiracism, and multimodality. These are topics that are not only relevant today, but they will be persistent issues for years to come. The topics covered are in line with the themes and topics I frequently cover in my own classes, so I wouldn't need to supplement so much.

The text is clear and appropriate for first year college students (and anyone new to academic writing). One of the highlights of this book is that it does spend time explaining and clarifying typically challenging concepts, like rhetoric and argument. This will be helpful for not only students but for new faculty who are teaching writing for the first time.

This text appears consistent. The units have similar structures and features, "editing," "spotlight on...," and "glance at genre." I like this because it shows students that they can methodically look at writing in this kind of way.

The text is divided into modules already, which could be beneficial for new faculty teaching writing for the first time.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Organization is the best quality of this text. They offer a helpful introduction, and subsequent units build up to more complicated writing processes. Again, for first time writing faculty, which can provide just as much help as the text does for the students.

I appreciate that this text has instructor and student resources. The text easily navigable, the images are clear (not distracting), and students will not have to scroll through a ton of text (they can easily navigate from the left table of contents or the "next" button at the bottom of each section).

I didn't see any errors.

This text is quite the opposite of insensitive or offensive. It includes discussions of antiracism and decoloniality, which are important and urgent cultural issues that teachers and students alike to begin engaging with.

I look forward to implementing this text into my course. I am glad to have an open access text that does what I need it to do.

Reviewed by Sarah Lacy, Lecturer, Old Dominion University on 1/6/23

There are lessons on rhetoric, research, portfolios, as well as genre specific readings which does make this a relatively comprehensive Rhetoric and Composition text. I believe the title, "Writing Guide with Handbook" does not do the... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

There are lessons on rhetoric, research, portfolios, as well as genre specific readings which does make this a relatively comprehensive Rhetoric and Composition text. I believe the title, "Writing Guide with Handbook" does not do the comprehensiveness of the text enough justice, as this is much more than what I imagine a "writing guide" to be. I specifically like the "Spotlight on..." sections at the end of each chapter/section, as it allows the authors of the book to bring specific lessons to the students that appear to be new and relevant to our cultural conversation (for example, "Spotlight on... Technical Writing as a Career" and "Spotlight on... Bias in Language and Research" each enhance the other readings in their section which highlighting current issues in the field).

However, while this is a fairly comprehensive text, and I appreciate that it uses various perspectives on writing and academia, I do not believe there are enough writing process specific readings to be the only text for a First Year Writing course. However, it is an excellent resource in helping students understand the complexity of writing, and to envision how they will use writing outside of the composition classroom.

The authors' use of various writers in using their text as examples allows this text to work from an unbiased standpoint. The information provided in these sections reflects accurate depiction of the subject matter, and follows the necessary lessons for a writing class, specifically one concerned with rhetorical lessons.

This textbook has included relevant readings on current issues in the field of writing studies, specifically in potential bias in writing and research, as well as issues in language studies. The supplemental readings in this text are very current (Selena Gomez and Ta-Nehisi Coates for example), but also include classic readings (Mark Twain for example) that show the variety of voices that the authors of this text have considered. The social media based readings may need to be updated from time to time, but I think that is a benefit of providing such of-the-moment readings. The base of this text, however, is in the study of rhetoric and college writing which will remain relevant and useful to students and instructors.

The writing is clear and concise, and is written with undergraduate students in mind. I specifically like that in many sections there are reflection questions offered which help students engage more deeply with the subject matter.

Each page is clearly from the same textbook, and each is given the "Learning Outcomes" at the top box which is one of my favorite features of this text. Additionally, there are often references to other sections of the book which shows that there are common themes and topics throughout. I believe the goal of this text is to help students understand the value in the development or personality and voice in writing, as well as lessons in genre and type; though this was not what I expected when reading the title and synopsis, this consistent theme would be beneficial for college writing students.

Modularity rating: 3

This is the section in which I encountered the main issue I have with this book, and that in some of the pages the structure of the prose and space between text is relatively non-existent, and often close together. The information of the text is helpful and insightful, but some sections are very text-heavy, with very little breaks for the reader. While there are other pages that have images, more breaks, and referential questions and links, this is not consistent throughout each page. Additionally, the numerical breakdown within the sections in the left-hand tool bar was a little confusing when i first began reading through, but if you were able to simply share each page link with students, rather than asking them to navigate the book on their own this shouldn't be an issue. Though the navigation tool took some getting used to, once I got the hang of it navigating the organization of the sections was decent.

The section titles are, however, cleverly titled and would intrigue students, as they both list what the section is about, and restate in a creative way. For example, section 16 "Print or Textual Analysis: What You Read" has several subsections such as "An Author's Choices: What Text Says and How it Says it" and "Editing Focus: Literary Works Live in the Present" that provide insight into the purpose of the section as well as an easy to identify personal purpose.

One portion of this text that I admire is that each section begins with a "Learning Outcomes" box, which is written is short, easy to digest prose in bulleted form, and serve very well to provide a preview of what the reader will encounter, to make working through the text more enlightening. In pages that do contain images, they are clear and there do not appear to be any major issues from a technical standpoint. As discussed in the Modularity section of this review, however, I did find navigation with the Contents Toolbar to be a bit perplexing, but I do believe this would not be as much of an issue if this book were in PDF or even print form.

In terms of interface issues, I did not notice any glaring problems. My issues is mainly with modularity and the tool bar, but they worked as they were intended.

The text of these chapters is well written and as I read through the different sections I did not encounter any issues.

I specifically like that this text has sections written by BIPOC authors such as bell hooks, Ta-Nehisi Coates, as well as specific sections on multilingual writers, which is in part why I chose to review this book. Additionally there are sections that explore the use of social media and other virtual forms of communications to make the text relatable to students. These readings, in particular section "1.2 Social Media Trailblazer: Selena Gomez," relate rhetoric specific lessons to individuals and modalities that students will be familiar with, and I believe is in part what helps to "demystify" the university for students.

This text would certainly serve well to provide supplemental readings in a First Year Writing Course, as it offers both textbook style lessons, as well as supplement essays. There are great readings on revising and editing, as well as active reading which I greatly admire. The readings are from a variety of cultural and language specific backgrounds which is increasingly important for any college students and instructor. However, the title of the book is "Writing Guide with Handbook," so I was expecting a lot more writing specific readings. While there are certainly some of those, this text reads more like a compilation of supplementary readings and lessons in writing types/genres, not so much quick referential selections (which is fine by me, but I was a bit confused by the title).

This text would be an excellent part of any curriculum, though perhaps would not be my only textbook choice. The information is valuable and would certainly aid any student in their composition classroom, but as today's students tend to read their work on their phone or tablets, some of the sections which contain only heavy text with very little breaks at times would make navigation difficult. That is not to say that I would not assign this text, in fact I intend to assigned several readings in my next college writing course. But, I do believe that there are some readings that could do well to include more images and breaks between text to make the more text-heavy sections more manageable.

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Reviewed by Lisa Kern-Lipscomb, Instructor, Tidewater Community College on 12/30/22

OED offers a free textbook that covers the writing process, vocabulary building, practices for writers, and many instructive lessons. Writing Guide with Handbook is a comprehensive textbook that aligns with my course syllabus throughout the... read more

OED offers a free textbook that covers the writing process, vocabulary building, practices for writers, and many instructive lessons. Writing Guide with Handbook is a comprehensive textbook that aligns with my course syllabus throughout the semester, so students can click a link to take them to valuable learning content.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

Content is readable and accurate without errors.

Guidance formulas for composing both working thesis statements and argumentative thesis statements are relevant writing skills that are beneficial for most students.

Clarity rating: 4

From organizing an essay to integrating documentation to composing an MLA Works Cited page, learning content is engaging while providing clear and concise information.

Consistency rating: 4

While many consistencies exist for each chapter, Editing Focus and Annotated Student Samples are important for composition students. Editing Focus provides novice writers specific learning for challenging writing skills, such as commas and sentence structures. Annotated Student Samples demonstrate annotated models for students to review before starting a writing assignment.

Chapters are outlined with links to specific, up-to-date content that aligns with my course syllabus, which makes finding learning content easy for students.

Learning content is organized logically, which helps students understand the notion of logical organization, especially novice writers.

Interface rating: 4

While navigating the textbook, all links worked properly, images downloaded, and content viewed correctly.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

While navigating the book, I did not encounter grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Multiple chapters highlight cultural backgrounds and provide engaging activities for students to grasp the understanding of various cultural perspectives.

Writing Guide with Handbook is a textbook I hope my students appreciate as it will not cost them anything. This free textbook is just what I need to help place my students on a successful learning pathway. Thank you OER.

Reviewed by Lisa Whalen, Professor, North Hennepin Community College on 12/7/22

I was thrilled to find this textbook because I've been looking for an OER that covers how to write a narrative, profile, visual evaluation, and rhetorical analysis of argument, and I hadn't seen one anywhere. This one covers each module I teach in... read more

I was thrilled to find this textbook because I've been looking for an OER that covers how to write a narrative, profile, visual evaluation, and rhetorical analysis of argument, and I hadn't seen one anywhere. This one covers each module I teach in first-year writing classes in an engaging format with examples that are much more current and sample essays that are much more relevant to students' lives than the costly textbook I've been using reluctantly for several years.

I didn't see any errors in accuracy. My only complaint about the book is its bias in pushing a specific political angle. I prefer textbooks that are politically neutral or at least politically balanced, but those are nearly impossible to find in recent publications. This one confines most of its political bias to specific sections I can skip fairly easily when using it in my classes.

The examples and societal references are very current and relevant to students' lives. A few, like the section on Selena Gomez, will go out of date quickly, but they're are minimal, and even going out of date won't negate the content associated with them. The other cultural references and example essays are universal enough to be relevant for many years.

Style, word choice, and layout are engaging and accessible. I really like the introduction to rhetoric and key terms at the front. Definitions throughout are concise yet complete. Chapter sections are kept short for readability in an online format.

Concepts introduced in early chapters are applied throughout the later chapters. The whole book builds nicely from beginning to end, and the transitions are seamless.

Yes! Among the things I like best about this book are its logical layout, clear chapter and section headings, and differentiation of genres and skills. The way sections and chapters are set up makes it easy to pick and choose which fit my class and assign them without worrying that skipping around might confuse students.

As stated earlier, the book builds logically from beginning to end while allowing for easy a la cart selection of individual chapters.

It's very easy to navigate. My only criticism is that the PDF page numbers differ from the displayed textbook page numbers. No matter how clearly and often I explain the difference, students get confused by the differing page number designations, especially in classes that are wholly online (versus face-to-face or hybrid). The differing page numbers will cause problems when students want to print pages they are assigned to read. More "digital natives" than I would suspect prefer to print pages they are assigned to read than to read them in an electronic format, and many students aren't aware that printers default to the PDF page numbers.

I didn't notice any grammatical errors or typos.

The book reflects the spectrum of human diversity well.

I'm thrilled to have found this book and plan to use it in my first-year writing sections.

Reviewed by Patricia Jordan, Academic Director, Online Training and Technology, Spartanburg Community College on 9/22/22

There are a lot of great ideas for classroom activities, but it doesn’t really cover the concepts of writing. The handbook portion is better but could be expanded. The table of contents is good. The index is confusing. Word like “Caesar,”... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

There are a lot of great ideas for classroom activities, but it doesn’t really cover the concepts of writing. The handbook portion is better but could be expanded. The table of contents is good. The index is confusing. Word like “Caesar,” “Country Music,” “vulnerability,” and “yearbook” are included, but I am not sure why.

The content seems to be accurate, error-free and unbiased.

Content is up-to-date, but makes use of such pop-culture topics that it feels like it will get out of date very quickly. It isn’t just in sections that would be easy to up date, but seems to be throughout the entire text.

The text is written clearly in an easy-to-understand way.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The text is divided into chapters and the chapters into sections. The sections are in easy to read chunks. The sections are hyperlinked.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

There does seem to be some repetition in the way the chapters are organized. Concepts seem to be repeated. The organization of the handbook is good.

The text seems to be free of significant interface issues. The online version uses Openstax which has a table of contents on the left and text on the right. There are advertisements from Kinetic by OpenStax to purchase a print copy that distracts from reading.

The text does not seem to have any grammatical errors .

The text goes out of its way to be culturally relevant and to include examples that are inclusive of a variety of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds.

It has good information. I think it would be useful to incorporate parts of this into teaching but not use this as a stand alone textbook.

Reviewed by Tara Montague, Part-time instructor, Portland Community College on 7/1/22

This text, Writing Guide with Handbook, is comprehensive. It includes more content than I could cover in one term; I can see using it to cover both a pre-transfer-level course and a basic transfer-level course. Though it is guided by a writing to... read more

This text, Writing Guide with Handbook, is comprehensive. It includes more content than I could cover in one term; I can see using it to cover both a pre-transfer-level course and a basic transfer-level course. Though it is guided by a writing to learn and communicate approach, each chapter includes appropriate writing instruction. The index is thorough and useful; it includes the chapter and section numbers and links to the appropriate content.

The content strikes me as accurate and error-free. This text was a collaborative effort between more than ten authors.

The content is current and engaging; it approaches a variety of relevant social issues and invites the reader to engage with current topics, yet it will certainly remain relevant. The writing models can easily be updated as necessary without changing the overall structure of the text.

The prose is clear and instructive, yet engaging. It doesn’t read like a handbook, and I think students will appreciate that. It is a little less simplistic than other texts I’ve considered from a pre-transfer-level course, but even though some of the concepts and discussions are sophisticated, the commentary provided makes them accessible.

The overall progression from personal narrative to exposition to persuasion includes a loose repetition of structure from chapter to chapter. The framework is coherent and engaging.

The text is completely modular, making it easy to assign small sections. It is well organized, with each chapter broken down into smaller sections, minimizing pages that have multiple screens’ worth of reading.

This text is comprised of twenty chapters that are organized into three larger units; there’s also a brief “handbook” that deals with additional composition elements (e.g. pronouns, MLA documentation, clear and effective sentences) and an Index. Each chapter is divided into eight or so pages or subsections, and the loose repetition of structure between chapters is helpful, but not confining. Each page/section within each chapter has a Learning Outcomes box.

The OpenStax interface makes it easy for users to download the text, view it online, or order a print copy through Amazon.com. The online text is well organized and easy to navigate. As I mentioned above, the Index is impressively functional. The OpenStax interface has a search box that I found useful. The “handbook” is one continuous page and has anchors for navigation, but it is a brief handbook, so this is not a big deal.

I didn’t notice any grammatical errors; the text is clean and well edited.

This text was explicitly designed to provide a culturally responsive and inclusive textbook option; the authors set out to offer “an inviting and inclusive approach to students of all intersectional identities.” The examples of writing are far-ranging and diverse and include writers from history and current writers.

Writing Guide with Handbook stands out because it is organized in a more student-centered way than many introductory composition texts. This text would work well for someone looking to almost ready-to-go course, rather than using a text to supplement their existing course. I am considering using the first half of the text for a pre-transfer-level course; I think it would work well (if not better) for a transfer-level course. I am excited by this text as it really invites users to engage in important issues and explore in writing their relationship to the world around them.

Reviewed by Brenda Coston, Assistant Professor, Honolulu Community College on 2/2/22

The Writing Guide with Handbook, is a text for writers who are beyond the basics of essay structure and who wish to develop more with writing in terms of culture and rhetoric for real life situations. read more

The Writing Guide with Handbook, is a text for writers who are beyond the basics of essay structure and who wish to develop more with writing in terms of culture and rhetoric for real life situations.

The content of the book is truly one of exploration and appreciation for other cultures . Other issues regarding oppression, bias, and objective writing are discussed in terms of how identity is constructed through writing.

This text, hands-down, is on the cutting edge of curranacy and relevance. Exploring hot topics facing society is a great way to engage student writers and get them thinking about the world around them.

Any relevant vocabulary is thoroughly and mindfully explained with examples given. For example, in Chapter 2.3, "Glance at the Issues: Oppression and Reclamation," the term bias and how it affects writing is completley investigated.

Any significant terms are defined before any development of ideas is given. This tactic helps the student to understand throroughly what is being explained in the text.

The authors have done a superb job of organizing ideas and breaking down sections. For instance, in Chapter Two, "Language, Identity, and Culture: Exploring, Employing, Embracing," the main ideas: language, identity, and so on, are broken down in to smaller areas devoted to them and are explored regarding the effects on the writing process.

Topics, are, indeed, presented in a clear manner, beginning with what the writer may already be aware of with writing, such as "The Digital World: Building on What You Already Know to Respond Critically" and moving to "Bridging the Divide Between Personal Identity and Academia."

The book is cearly laid out with photos that enhance the subject matter and provide a clear undernstaning for the reader.

No grammatical errors were noted.

This text makes a point to engage readers from all walks of life with varying cultural backgrounds. By undertsanding how others think, the student has a deeper perspective when writing and produces an essay with substance.

The Handbook, located in the back of the text, is phenomenal. It is more that just grammar. It touches on on proofreading the essay for clear and effective sentences, beneficial transitional expressions, mechanics, point of view, and MLA. The explanations are clear and relevant and very relatable for college students.

Table of Contents

  • Chapter 1  The Digital World: Building on What You Already Know to Respond Critically
  • Chapter 2  Language, Identity, and Culture: Exploring, Employing, Embracing
  • Chapter 3  Literacy Narrative: Building Bridges, Bridging Gaps
  • Chapter 4  Memoir or Personal Narrative: Learning Lessons from the Personal
  • Chapter 5  Profile: Telling a Rich and Compelling Story
  • Chapter 6  Proposal: Writing About Problems and Solutions
  • Chapter 7  Evaluation or Review: Would You Recommend It?
  • Chapter 8  Analytical Report: Writing from Facts
  • Chapter 9  Rhetorical Analysis: Interpreting the Art of Rhetoric
  • Chapter 10  Position Argument: Practicing the Art of Rhetoric
  • Chapter 11  Reasoning Strategies: Improving Critical Thinking
  • Chapter 12  Argumentative Research: Enhancing the Art of Rhetoric with Evidence
  • Chapter 13  Research Process: Accessing and Recording Information
  • Chapter 14  Annotated Bibliography: Gathering, Evaluating, and Documenting Sources
  • Chapter 15  Case Study Profile: What One Person Says About All
  • Chapter 16  Print or Textual Analysis: What You Read
  • Chapter 17  Image Analysis: What You See
  • Chapter 18  Multimodal and Online Writing: Creative Interaction between Text and Image
  • Chapter 19  Scripting for the Public Forum: Writing to Speak
  • Chapter 20  Portfolio Reflection: Your Growth as a Writer

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Writing Guide with Handbook  aligns to the goals, topics, and objectives of many first-year writing and composition courses. It is organized according to relevant genres, and focuses on the writing process, effective writing practices or strategies—including graphic organizers, writing frames, and word banks to support visual learning—and conventions of usage and style. The text includes an editing and documentation handbook, which provides information on grammar and mechanics, common usage errors, and citation styles.

Writing Guide with Handbook  breaks down barriers in the field of composition by offering an inviting and inclusive approach to students of all intersectional identities. To meet this goal, the text creates a reciprocal relationship between everyday rhetoric and the evolving world of academia.  Writing Guide with Handbook  builds on students’ life experiences and their participation in rhetorical communities within the familiar contexts of personal interaction and social media. The text seeks to extend these existing skills by showing students how to construct a variety of compelling compositions in a variety of formats, situations, and contexts.

The authors conceived and developed  Writing Guide with Handbook  in 2020; its content and learning experiences reflect the instructional, societal, and individual challenges students have faced. The authors invite students and instructors to practice invitational, rather than confrontational, discussions even as they engage in verbal and written argument. Instructors will be empowered to emphasize meaning and voice and to teach empathy as a rhetorical strategy. Students will be empowered to negotiate their identities and their cultures through language as they join us in writing, discovering, learning, and creating.

About the Contributors

Michelle Bachelor Robinson , Spelman College

Dr. Michelle Bachelor Robinson directs the Comprehensive Writing Program and is an assistant professor of writing and rhetoric at Spelman College. For five weeks each summer, she also serves as faculty for the Middlebury College Bread Loaf School of English, a summer residential graduate program for secondary educators. Her research and teaching focus on community engagement, historiography, African American rhetoric and literacy, composition pedagogy and theory, and student and program assessment. She is the coeditor of the Routledge Reader of African American Rhetoric and has published articles in WPA: Writing Program Administration, Peitho: Journal of the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition, the Alabama Humanities Review, and the Journal of Social Work Education. Her early career was spent as a secondary educator, teaching high school students in the subjects of writing, literature, reading, debate, and drama. Dr. Robinson currently serves as the higher-education cochair of the College Board test development committee for the Advanced Placement (AP) English Language Exam, as well as a member of the test development committee for the College Level Examination Program (CLEP) for College Composition. Dr. Robinson also served on the executive committee for the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) from 2017 to 2020 and is still actively involved in that national work.

Maria Jerskey , City University of New York

Dr. Maria Jerskey is a professor of education and language acquisition at the City University of New York (CUNY), where she teaches courses in ESL, linguistics, bilingualism, and French to community college students and academic writing to graduate students. She is the founder and director of the Literacy Brokers Program, which supports and promotes the publishing practices of multilingual scholars. Dr. Jerskey has 4 Preface Access for free at openstax.org. published widely and been involved in national professional committees and organizations that focus on bringing current research and scholarship to bear on institutionalized practices that disenfranchise multilingual writers in order to design and implement equitable teaching and learning practices and professional development. She has authored college writing handbooks, including Globalization: A Reader for Writers and, with Ann Raimes, Keys for Writers, 6th edition. In her teaching and professional committee work, Dr. Jerskey problematizes and challenges the value and status of Standard Written English by applying critical research and scholarship in the fields of education, linguistics, and composition. Her current research and activism focus on identifying institutional barriers to linguistic justice and cultivating sustainable practices that recognize, encourage, and value the use of each person’s full linguistic repertoire.

Toby Fulwiler , Emeritus, University of Vermont

Dr. Toby Fulwiler is an emeritus professor in the Department of English at the University of Vermont. The author of numerous professional texts, student textbooks, chapters, and articles, Dr. Fulwiler graciously provided The Working Writer as inspiration for Writing Guide with Handbook.

Contribute to this Page

How to write and type on a PDF using a PC.

A woman sitting at a desk writes and types on a PDF using her PC.

Learn how to edit and create text in a PDF right from your PC.

PDFs make it easy to view documents on almost any device, but editing isn’t always as straightforward. If you want to write on a PDF file from your PC, here’s the easiest way to do it.

You may need to redo text in a PDF for a variety of reasons. Maybe a co-worker requested a small adjustment made after it was already sent to final revisions. Or perhaps you realized you forgot to include an important clause in a business agreement. With the file no longer being a Word document, the process may not seem as simple. If you need to make adjustments to text in a PDF using your PC, you can do it in minutes with the Acrobat tool.

Adobe Acrobat PDF editing software has all the tools you need to readjust text and make other document changes easily.

Edit existing text in a PDF using a PC.

You may need to redo text in a PDF for a variety of reasons. Maybe a co-worker requested a small adjustment made after it was already sent to final revisions. Or perhaps you realized you forgot to include an important clause in a business agreement. With the file no longer being a Word document, the process may not seem as simple. If you need to make adjustments to text in a PDF using your PC, you can do it in minutes with the Acrobat tool. Adobe Acrobat PDF editing software has all the tools you need to readjust text and make other document changes easily. If you need to change some information, you can edit existing PDF text from your PC in three simple steps.

  • Open the file in a PDF editor like Adobe Acrobat.
  • Click the Edit PDF tool in the upper-right corner.
  • Choose the text you want to edit and start writing.

For people who don’t want to download a PDF editor, you can also write in PDFs from your web browser with Adobe Acrobat online services. Simply upload your PDF to the online editor, make your changes, and download the updated PDF to your PC — no software downloads required.

Add new text to a PDF using a PC.

PDFs may not be the most simple format to add to, but creativity will strike when you least expect it. Occasionally, this will happen after your easily editable document has been saved as a PDF. Maybe you came up with an even better closing line for your latest eBook. You can easily end your book on the best note using the Adobe Acrobat PDF editor to include the additional text you need. Sometimes, it takes more than a few edits to get your PDF exactly right. Even if your document is not in an easily editable format, Acrobat can help transform your PDF to be editable again.

Writing new text on a PDF file is a bit different than editing existing text, but it’s still easy with Acrobat — just follow the steps below.

  • Open your file in the Acrobat PDF Editor.
  • Select Fill & Sign on the right side of the screen.
  • Choose the Add Text tool, which looks like an upper-case “A” next to a lower-case “b.”
  • Click anywhere in the PDF where you’d like to add text and start typing.

Once you have your additions, you can resize and edit the text blocks to make them fit the PDF. Then, hit the Save button to permanently add your text to the PDF.

Why add or edit text in a PDF?

There are many reasons that you may need to add or edit text in a PDF. A PDF without the proper software prohibits adding or editing text. Typically when a document is saved as a PDF, there are no intentions of making edits, and it is in its final form. But we all make mistakes, and sometimes we may catch one in the document after it has already been saved as a PDF. After reading a PDF a few times, you may have some new ideas you want to add to your piece, so using Adobe Acrobat can come in handy.

Explore more about how Acrobat and Acrobat online services can make it easy to edit and add text to PDFs right from your PC.

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Writing Guides

The Harvard Writing Project sponsors a wide range of writing guides that encourage better writing by giving students practical advice and useful examples. The development of some guides has been underwritten by Faculty Grants on Writing Pedagogy. There are four principal types of writing guides:

  • writing guides for  disciplines or interdisciplinary programs
  • writing guides for  specific courses
  • writing guides for specific genres of writing, such as  senior theses
  • writing guides for  General Education courses

The writing guides may be viewed online or downloaded as PDF files. Some of the guides are also available in print form. Persons wishing to receive a print version of any of the writing guides should contact James Herron at  [email protected].

  • Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines
  • Course-Specific Writing Guides
  • Disciplinary Writing Guides
  • Gen Ed Writing Guides
  • Senior Thesis Writing Guides

What is Programming? A Handbook for Beginners

Welcome to the amazing world of programming. This is one of the most useful and powerful skills that you can learn and use to make your visions come true.

In this handbook, we will dive into why programming is important, its applications, its basic concepts, and the skills you need to become a successful programmer.

You will learn:

  • What programming is and why it is important .
  • What a programming language is and why it is important .
  • How programming is related to binary numbers .
  • Real-world applications of programming .
  • Skills you need to succeed as a programmer .
  • Tips for learning how to code .
  • Basic programming concepts .
  • Types of programming languages .
  • How to contribute to open source projects .
  • And more...

Are you ready? Let's begin! ✨  

🔹 What is Programming?

main-image

Did you know that computer programming is already a fundamental part of your everyday lives? Let's see why. I'm sure that you will be greatly surprised.

Every time you turn on your smartphone, laptop, tablet, smart TV, or any other electronic device, you are running code that was planned, developed, and written by developers. This code creates the final and interactive result that you can see on your screen.

That is exactly what programming is all about. It is the process of writing code to solve a particular problem or to implement a particular task.

Programming is what allows your computer to run the programs you use every day and your smartphone to run the apps that you love. It is an essential part of our world as we know it.

Whenever you check your calendar, attend virtual conferences, browse the web, or edit a document, you are using code that has been written by developers.

"And what is code?" you may ask.

Code is a sequence of instructions that a programmer writes to tell a device (like a computer) what to do.

The device cannot know by itself how to handle a particular situation or how to perform a task. So developers are in charge of analyzing the situation and writing explicit instructions to implement what is needed.

To do this, they follow a particular syntax (a set of rules for writing the code).

A developer (or programmer) is the person who analyzes a problem and implements a solution in code.

Sounds amazing, right? It's very powerful and you can be part this wonderful world too by learning how to code. Let's see how.

You, as a developer.

Let's put you in a developer's shoes for a moment. Imagine that you are developing a mobile app, like the ones that you probably have installed on your smartphone right now.

What is the first thing that you would do?

Think about this for a moment.

The answer is...

Analyzing the problem. What are you trying to build?

As a developer, you would start by designing the layout of the app, how it will work, its different screens and functionality, and all the small details that will make your app an awesome tool for users around the world.

Only after you have everything carefully planned out, you can start to write your code. To do that, you will need to choose a programming language to work with. Let's see what a programming language is and why they are super important.

🔸 What is a Programing Language?

what-is-a-programming-language

A programming language is a language that computers can understand.

We cannot just write English words in our program like this:

"Computer, solve this task!"

and hope that our computer can understand what we mean. We need to follow certain rules to write the instructions.

Every programming language has its own set of rules that determine if a line of code is valid or not. Because of this, the code you write in one programming language will be slightly different from others.

💡 Tip: Some programming languages are more complex than others but most of them share core concepts and functionality. If you learn how to code in one programming language, you will likely be able to learn another one faster.

Before you can start writing awesome programs and apps, you need to learn the basic rules of the programming language you chose for the task.

💡 Tip: a program is a set of instructions written in a programming language for the computer to execute. We usually write the code for our program in one or multiple files.

For example, this is a line of code in Python (a very popular programming language) that shows the message "Hello, World!" :

But if we write the same line of code in JavaScript (a programming language mainly used for web development), we will get an error because it will not be valid.

To do something very similar in JavaScript, we would write this line of code instead:

Visually, they look very different, right? This is because Python and JavaScript have a different syntax and a different set of built-in functions .

💡 Tip : built-in functions are basically tasks that are already defined in the programming language. This lets us use them directly in our code by writing their names and by specifying the values they need.  

In our examples, print() is a built-in function in Python while console.log() is a function that we can use in JavaScript to see the message in the console (an interactive tool) if we run our code in the browser.

Examples of programming languages include Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, C, C#, C++, PHP, Go, Swift, SQL, and R. There are many programming languages and most of them can be used for many different purposes.

💡 Tip: These were the most popular programming languages on the Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2022 :

Screen-Shot-2022-12-02-at-9.06.50-PM

There are many other programming languages (hundreds or even thousands!) but usually, you will learn and work with some of the most popular ones. Some of them have broader applications like Python and JavaScript while others (like R) have more specific (and even scientific) purposes.

This sounds very interesting, right? And we are only starting to talk about programming languages. There is a lot to learn about them and I promise you that if you dive deeper into programming, your time and effort will be totally worth it.

Awesome! Now that you know what programming is and what programming languages are all about, let's see how programming is related to binary numbers.

🔹 Programming and Binary Numbers

When you think about programming, perhaps the first thing that comes to your mind is something like the below image, right? A sequence of 0 s and 1 s on your computer.

binary

Programming is indeed related to binary numbers ( 0 and 1 ) but in an indirect way. Developers do not actually write their code using zeros and ones.

We usually write programs in a high-level programming language, a programming language with a syntax that recognizes specific words (called keywords), symbols, and values of different data types.

Basically, we write code in a way that humans can understand.

For example, these are the keywords that we can use in Python:

Every programming language has its own set of keywords (words written in English). These keywords are part of the syntax and core functionality of the programming language.

But keywords are just common words in English, almost like the ones that we would find in a book.

That leads us to two very important questions:

  • How does the computer understand and interpret what we are trying to say?
  • Where does the binary number system come into play here?

The computer does not understand these words, symbols, or values directly.

When a program runs, the code that we write in a high-level programming language that humans can understand is automatically transformed into binary code that the computer can understand.

11---binary-diagram

This transformation of source code that humans can understand into binary code that the computer can understand is called compilation .

According to Britannica , a compiler is defined as:

Computer software that translates (compiles) source code written in a high-level language (e.g., C++) into a set of machine-language instructions that can be understood by a digital computer’s CPU.

Britannica also mentions that:

The term compiler was coined by American computer scientist Grace Hopper , who designed one of the first compilers in the early 1950s.

Some programming languages can be classified as compiled programming languages while others can be classified as interpreted programming languages based on how to they are transformed into machine-language instructions.

However, they all have to go through a process that converts them into instructions that the computer can understand.

Awesome. Now you know why binary code is so important for computer science. Without it, basically programming would not exist because computers would not be able to understand our instructions.

Now let's dive into the applications of programming and the different areas that you can explore.

🔸 Real-World Applications of Programming

applications

Programming has many different applications in many different industries. This is truly amazing because you can apply your knowledge in virtually any industry that you are interested in.

From engineering to farming, from game development to physics, the possibilities are endless if you learn how to code.  

Let's see some of them. (I promise you. They are amazing! ⭐) .

Front-End Web Development

1---frontend

If you learn how to code, you can use your programming skills to design and develop websites and online platforms. Front-End Web Developers create the parts of the websites that users can see and interact with directly.

For example, right now you are reading an article on freeCodeCamp 's publication. The publication looks like this and it works like this thanks to code that front-end web developers wrote line by line.

💡 Tip: If you learn front-end web development, you can do this too.

Screen-Shot-2022-12-02-at-9.56.43-PM

Front-End Web Developers use HTML and CSS to create the structure of the website (these are markup languages, which are used to present information) and they write JavaScript code to add functionality and interactivity.

If you are interested in learning front-end web development, you can learn HTML and CSS with these free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube Channel:

  • Learn HTML5 and CSS3 From Scratch - Full Course
  • Learn HTML & CSS – Full Course for Beginners
  • Frontend Web Development Bootcamp Course (JavaScript, HTML, CSS)
  • Introduction To Responsive Web Design - HTML & CSS Tutorial

You can also learn JavaScript for free with these free online courses:

  • Learn JavaScript - Full Course for Beginners
  • JavaScript Programming - Full Course
  • JavaScript DOM Manipulation – Full Course for Beginners
  • Learn JavaScript by Building 7 Games - Full Course

💡 Tip: You can also earn a Responsive Web Design Certification while you learn with interactive exercises on freeCodeCamp.

Back-End Web Development

2---backend

More complex and dynamic web applications that work with user data also require a server . This is a computer program that receives requests and sends appropriate responses. They also need a database , a collection of values stored in a structured way.

Back-End Web Developers are in charge of developing the code for these servers. They decide how to handle the different requests, how to send appropriate resources, how to store the information, and basically how to make everything that runs behind the scenes work smoothly and efficiently.

A real-world example of back-end web development is what happens when you create an account on freeCodeCamp and complete a challenge. Your information is stored on a database and you can access it later when you sign in with your email and password.

Screen-Shot-2022-12-02-at-10.07.41-PM

This amazing interactive functionality was implemented by back-end web developers.

💡 Tip: Full-stack Web Developers are in charge of both Front-End and Back-End Web Development. They have specialized knowledge on both areas.

All the complex platforms that you use every day, like social media platforms, online shopping platforms, and educational platforms, use servers and back-end web development to power their amazing functionality.

Python is an example of a powerful programming language used for this purpose. This is one of the most popular programming languages out there, and its popularity continues to rise every year. This is partly because it is simple and easy to learn and yet powerful and versatile enough to be used in real-world applications.

💡 Tip: if you are curious about the specific applications of Python, this is an article I wrote on this topic .

JavaScript can also be used for back-end web development thanks to Node.js.

Other programming languages used to develop web servers are PHP, Ruby, C#, and Java.

If you would like to learn Back-End Web Development, these are free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Python Backend Web Development Course (with Django)
  • Node.js and Express.js - Full Course
  • Full Stack Web Development for Beginners (Full Course on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Node.js, MongoDB)
  • Node.js / Express Course - Build 4 Projects

💡 Tip: freeCodeCamp also has a free Back End Development and APIs certification.

Mobile App Development

3---mobile-apps

Mobile apps have become part of our everyday lives. I'm sure that you could not imagine life without them.

Think about your favorite mobile app. What do you love about it?

Our favorite apps help us with our daily tasks, they entertain us, they solve a problem, and they help us to achieve our goals. They are always there for us.

That is the power of mobile apps and you can be part of this amazing world too if you learn mobile app development.

Developers focused on mobile app development are in charge of planning, designing, and developing the user interface and functionality of these apps. They identify a gap in the existing apps and they try to create a working product to make people's lives better.

💡 Tip: regardless of the field you choose, your goal as a developer should always be making people's lives better. Apps are not just apps, they have the potential to change our lives. You should always remember this when you are planning your projects. Your code can make someone's life better and that is a very important responsibility.

Mobile app developers use programming languages like JavaScript, Java, Swift, Kotlin, and Dart. Frameworks like Flutter and React Native are super helpful to build cross-platform mobile apps (that is, apps that run smoothly on multiple different operating systems like Android and iOS).

According to Flutter 's official documentation:

Flutter is an open source framework by Google for building beautiful, natively compiled, multi-platform applications from a single codebase.

If you would like to learn mobile app development, these are free courses that you can take on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Flutter Course for Beginners – 37-hour Cross Platform App Development Tutorial
  • Flutter Course - Full Tutorial for Beginners (Build iOS and Android Apps)
  • React Native - Intro Course for Beginners
  • Learn React Native Gestures and Animations - Tutorial

Game Development

4---games

Games create long-lasting memories. I'm sure that you still remember your favorite games and why you love (or loved) them so much. Being a game developer means having the opportunity of bringing joy and entertainment to players around the world.

Game developers envision, design, plan, and implement the functionality of a game. They also need to find or create assets such as characters, obstacles, backgrounds, music, sound effects, and more.

💡 Tip: if you learn how to code, you can create your own games. Imagine creating an awesome and engaging game that users around the world will love. That is what I personally love about programming. You only need your computer, your knowledge, and some basic tools to create something amazing.

Popular programming languages used for game development include JavaScript, C++, Python, and C#.

If you are interested in learning game development, you can take these free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • JavaScript Game Development Course for Beginners
  • Learn Unity - Beginner's Game Development Tutorial
  • Learn Python by Building Five Games - Full Course
  • Code a 2D Game Using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS (w/ Free Game Assets) – Tutorial
  • 2D Game Development with GDevelop - Crash Course
  • Pokémon Coding Tutorial - CS50's Intro to Game Development

Biology, Physics, and Chemistry

5---biology-and-science

Programming can be applied in every scientific field that you can imagine, including biology, physics, chemistry, and even astronomy. Yes! Scientists use programming all the time to collect and analyze data. They can even run simulations to test hypotheses.

In biology, computer programs can simulate population genetics and population dynamics. There is even an entire field called bioinformatics .

According to this article "Bioinformatics" by Ardeshir Bayat, member of the Centre for Integrated Genomic Medical Research at the University of Manchester:

Bioinformatics is defined as the application of tools of computation and analysis to the capture and interpretation of biological data.

Dr. Bayat mentions that bioinformatics can be used for genome sequencing. He also mentions that its discoveries may lead to drug discoveries and individualized therapies.

Frequently used programming languages for bioinformatics include Python, R, PHP, PERL, and Java.

💡 Tip: R is a programming "language and environment for statistical computing and graphics" ( source ).

An example of a great tool that scientists can use for biology is Biopython . This is a Python framework with "freely available tools for biological computation."

If you would like to learn more about how you can apply your programming skills in science, these are free courses that you can take on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Python for Bioinformatics - Drug Discovery Using Machine Learning and Data Analysis
  • R Programming Tutorial - Learn the Basics of Statistical Computing
  • Learn Python - Full Course for Beginners [Tutorial]

Physics requires running many simulations and programming is perfect for doing exactly that. With programming, scientists can program and run simulations based on specific scenarios that would be hard to replicate in real life. This is much more efficient.

Programming languages that are commonly used for physics simulations include C, Java, Python, MATLAB, and JavaScript.  

Chemistry also relies on simulations and data analysis, so it's a field where programming can be a very helpful tool.

In this scientific article by Dr. Ivar Ugi and his colleagues from Organisch-chemisches Institut der Technischen Universität München, they mention that:

The design of entirely new syntheses, and the classification and documentation of structures, substructures, and reactons are examples of new applications of computers to chemistry.

Scientific experiments also generate detailed data and results that can be analyzed with computer programs developed by scientists.  

Think about it: writing a program to generate a box plot or a scatter plot or any other type of plot to visualize trends in thousands of measurements can save researchers a lot of time and effort. This lets them focus on the most important part of their work: analyzing the results.

Screen-Shot-2022-12-04-at-10.40.43-AM

💡 Tips: if you are interested in diving deeper into this, this is a list of chemistry simulations by the American Chemical Society. These simulations were programmed by developers and they are helping thousands of students and teachers around the world.

Think about it...You could build the next great simulation. If you are interested in a scientific field, I totally recommend learning how to code. Your work will be much more productive and your results will be easier to analyze.

If you are interested in learning programming for scientific applications, these are free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Python for Data Science - Course for Beginners (Learn Python, Pandas, NumPy, Matplotlib)

Data Science and Engineering

6---engineering-2

Talking about data...programming is also essential for a field called Data Science . If you are interested in answering questions through data and statistics, this field might be exactly what you are looking for and having programming skills will help you to achieve your goals.

Data scientists collect and analyze data in order to answer questions in many different fields. According to UC Berkeley in the article " What is Data Science? ":

Effective data scientists are able to identify relevant questions, collect data from a multitude of different data sources, organize the information, translate results into solutions, and communicate their findings in a way that positively affects business decisions.

There are many powerful programming languages for analyzing and visualizing data, but perhaps one of the most frequently used ones for this purpose is Python.

This is an example of the type of data visualizations that you can create with Python. They are very helpful to analyze data visually and you can customize them to your fit needs.

image-6

If you are interested in learning programming for data science, these are free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Learn Data Science Tutorial - Full Course for Beginners
  • Intro to Data Science - Crash Course for Beginners
  • Build 12 Data Science Apps with Python and Streamlit - Full Course
  • Data Analysis with Python - Full Course for Beginners (Numpy, Pandas, Matplotlib, Seaborn)

💡 Tip: you can also earn these free certifications on freeCodeCamp:

  • Data Visualization
  • Data Analysis with Python

Engineering

Engineering is another field where programming can help you to succeed. Being able to write your own computer programs can make your work much more efficient.

There are many tools created specifically for engineers. For example, the R programming language is specialized in statistical applications and Python is very popular in this field too.

Another great tool for programming in engineering is MATLAB . According to its official website:

MATLAB is a programming and numeric computing platform used by millions of engineers and scientists to analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models.

Really, the possibilities are endless.

You can learn MATLAB with this crash course on the freeCodeCamp YouTube channel .

If you are interested in learning engineering tools related to programming, this is a free course on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel that covers AutoCAD, a 2D and 3D computer-aided design software used by engineers:

  • AutoCAD for Beginners - Full University Course

Medicine and Pharmacology

7---medicine-an-pharmachology

Medicine and pharmacology are constantly evolving by finding new treatments and procedures. Let's see how you can apply your programming skills in these fields.

Programming is really everywhere. If you are interested in the field of medicine, learning how to code can be very helpful for you too. Even if you would like to focus on computer science and software development, you can apply your knowledge in both fields.

Specialized developers are in charge of developing and writing the code that powers and controls the devices and machines that are used by modern medicine.

Think about it...all these machines and devices are controlled by software and someone has to write that software. Medical records are also stored and tracked by specialized systems created by developers. That could be you if you decide to follow this path. Sounds exciting, right?

According to the scientific article Application of Computer Techniques in Medicine :

Major uses of computers in medicine include hospital information system, data analysis in medicine, medical imaging laboratory computing, computer assisted medical decision making, care of critically ill patients, computer assisted therapy and so on.

Pharmacology

Programming and computer science can also be applied to develop new drugs in the field of pharmacology.

A remarkable example of what you can achieve in this field by learning how to code is presented in this article by MIT News. It describes how an MIT senior, Kristy Carpenter, was using computer science in 2019 to develop "new, more affordable drugs." Kristy mentions that:

Artificial intelligence, which can help compute the combinations of compounds that would be better for a particular drug, can reduce trial-and-error time and ideally quicken the process of designing new medicines.

Another example of a real-world application of programming in pharmacology is related to Python (yes, Python has many applications!). Among its success stories , we find that Python was selected by AstraZeneca to develop techniques and programs that can help scientists to discover new drugs faster and more efficiently.

The documentation explains that:

To save time and money on laboratory work, experimental chemists use computational models to narrow the field of good drug candidates, while also verifying that the candidates to be tested are not simple variations of each other's basic chemical structure.

If you are interested in learning programming for medicine or health-related fields, this is a free course on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel on programming for healthcare imaging:

  • PyTorch and Monai for AI Healthcare Imaging - Python Machine Learning Course

8---education

Have you ever thought that programming could be helpful for education? Well, let me tell you that it is and it is very important. Why? Because the digital learning tools that students and teachers use nowadays are programmed by developers.

Every time a student opens an educational app, browses an educational platform like freeCodeCamp, writes on a digital whiteboard, or attends a class through an online meeting platform, programming is making that possible.

As a programmer or as a teacher who knows how to code, you can create the next great app that will enhance the learning experience of students around the world.

Perhaps it will be a note-taking app, an online learning platform, a presentation app, an educational game, or any other app that could be helpful for students.

The important thing is to create it with students in mind if your goal is to make something amazing that will create long-lasting memories.

If you envision it, then you can create it with code.  

Teachers can also teach their students how to code to develop their problem-solving skills and to teach them important skills for their future.

💡 Tip: if you are teaching students how to code, Scratch is a great programming language to teach the basics of programming. It is particularly focused on teaching children how to code in an interactive way.

According to the official Scratch website:

Scratch is the world’s largest coding community for children and a coding language with a simple visual interface that allows young people to create digital stories, games, and animations.

If you are interested in learning how to code for educational purposes, these are courses that you may find helpful on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Scratch Tutorial for Beginners - Make a Flappy Bird Game
  • Computational Thinking & Scratch - Intro to Computer Science - Harvard's CS50 (2018)
  • Android Development for Beginners - Full Course

Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics

9---robotics

Some of the most amazing fields that are directly related to programming are Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Robotics. Let's see why.

Artificial Intelligence is defined by Britannica as:

The project of developing systems endowed with the intellectual processes characteristic of humans, such as the ability to reason, discover meaning, generalize, or learn from past experience.

Machine learning is a branch or a subset of the field of Artificial Intelligence in which systems can learn on their own based on data. The goal of this learning process is to predict the expected output. These models continuously learn how to "think" and how to analyze situations based on their previous training.

The most commonly used programming languages in these fields are Python, C, C#, C++, and MATLAB.

Artificial intelligence and Machine Learning have amazing applications in various industries, such as:

  • Image and object detection.
  • Making predictions based on patterns.
  • Text recognition.
  • Recommendation engines (like when an online shopping platform shows you products that you may like or when YouTube shows you videos that you may like).
  • Spam detection for emails.
  • Fraud detection.
  • Social media features like personalized feeds.
  • Many more... there are literally millions of applications in virtually every industry.

If you are interested in learning how to code for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, these are free courses on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Machine Learning for Everybody – Full Course
  • Machine Learning Course for Beginners
  • PyTorch for Deep Learning & Machine Learning – Full Course
  • TensorFlow 2.0 Complete Course - Python Neural Networks for Beginners Tutorial
  • Self-Driving Car with JavaScript Course – Neural Networks and Machine Learning
  • Python TensorFlow for Machine Learning – Neural Network Text Classification Tutorial
  • Practical Deep Learning for Coders - Full Course from fast.ai and Jeremy Howard
  • Deep Learning Crash Course for Beginners
  • Advanced Computer Vision with Python - Full Course

💡 Tip: you can also earn a Machine Learning with Python Certification on freeCodeCamp.

Programming is also very important for robotics. Yes, robots are programmed too!

Robotics is defined by Britannica as the:

Design, construction, and use of machines (robots) to perform tasks done traditionally by human beings.

Robots are just like computers. They do not know what to do until you tell them what to do by writing instructions in your programs. If you learn how to code, you can program robots and industrial machinery found in manufacturing facilities.

If you are interested in learning how to code for robotics, electronics, and related fields, this is a free course on Arduino on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel:

  • Arduino Course for Beginners - Open-Source Electronics Platform

Other Applications

There are many other fascinating applications of programming in almost every field. These are some highlights:

  • Agriculture: in this article by MIT News, a farmer developed an autonomous tractor app after learning how to code.
  • Self-driving cars: autonomous cars rely on software to analyze their surroundings and to make quick and accurate decisions on the road. If you are interested in this area, this is a course on this topic on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel.
  • Finance: programming can also be helpful to develop programs and models that predict financial indicators and trends. For example, this is a course on algorithmic trading on freeCodeCamp's YouTube channel.

The possibilities are endless. I hope that this section will give you a notion of why learning how to code is so important for your present and for your future. It will be a valuable skill to have in any field you choose.

Awesome. Now let's dive into the soft skills that you need to become a successful programmer.

🔹 Skills of a Successful Programmer

skills

After going through the diverse range of applications of programming, you must be curious to know what skills are needed to succeed in this field.

A programmer should be curious. Whether you are just starting to learn how to code or you already have 20 years of experience, coding projects will always present you with new challenges and learning opportunities. If you take these opportunities, you will continously improve your skills and succeed.

Enthusiasm is a key trait of a successful programmer but this applies in general to any field if you want to succeed. Enthusiasm will keep you happy and curious about what you are creating and learning.

💡 Tip: If you ever feel like you are not as enthusiastic as you used to be, it's time to find or learn something new that can light the spark in you again and fill you with hope and dreams.

A programmer must be patient because transforming an initial idea into a working product can take time, effort, and many different steps. Patience will keep you focused on your final goal.  

Programming can be challenging. That is true. But what defines you is not how many challenges you face, it's how you face them. If you thrive despite these challenges, you will become a better programmer and you could create something that could change the world.

Programmers must be creative because even though every programming language has a particular set of rules for writing the code, coding is like using LEGOs. You have the building-blocks but you need to decide what to create and how to create it. The process of writing the code requires creativity while following the established best practices.

Problem-solving and Analysis

Programming is basically analyzing and solving problems with code. Depending on your field of choice, those problems will be simpler or more complex but they will all require some level of problem-solving skills and a thorough analysis of the situation.

Questions like:

  • What should I build?
  • How can I build it?
  • What is the best way to build this?

Are part of the everyday routine of a programmer.

Ability to Focus for Long Periods of Time

When you are working on a coding project, you will need to focus on a task for long periods of time. From creating the design, to planning and writing the code, to testing the result, and to fixing bugs (issues with the code), you will dedicate many hours to a particular task. This is why it's essential to be able to focus and to keep your final goal in mind.

Taking Detailed Notes

This skill is very important for programmers, particularly when you are learning how to code. Taking detailed notes can be help you to understand and remember the concepts and tools you learn. This also applies for experienced programmers, since being a programmer involves life-long learning.

Communication

Initially, you might think that programming is a solitary activity and imagine that a programmer spends hundreds of hours alone sitting on a desk.

But the reality is that when you find your first job, you will see that communication is super important to coordinate tasks with other team members and to exchange ideas and feedback.

Open to Feedback

In programming, there is usually more than one way to implement the same functionality. Different alternatives may work similarly, but some may be easier to read or more efficient in terms of time or resource consumption.

When you are learning how to code, you should always take constructive feedback as a tool for learning. Similarly, when you are working on a team, take your colleagues' feedback positively and always try to improve.

Life-long Learning

Programming equals life-long learning. If you are interested in learning how to code, you must know that you will always need to be learning new things as new technologies emerge and existing technologies are updated. Think about it... that is great because there is always something interesting and new to learn!

Open to Trying New Things

Finally, an essential skill to be a successful programmer is to be open to trying new things. Step out of your comfort zone and be open to new technologies and products. In the technology industry, things evolve very quickly and adapting to change is essential.

🔸 Tips for Learning How to Code

tips

Now that you know more about programming, programming languages, and the skills you need to be a successful programmer, let's see some tips for learning how to code.

💡 Tip: these tips are based on my personal experience and opinions.

  • Choose one programming language to learn first. When you are learning how to code, it's easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of options and entry paths. My advice would be to focus on understanding the essential computer science concepts and one programming language first. Python and JavaScript are great options to start learning the fundamentals.
  • Take detailed notes. Note-taking skills are essential to record and to analyze the topics you are learning. You can add custom comments and annotations to explain what you are learning.
  • Practice constantly. You can only improve your problem-solving skills by practicing and by learning new techniques and tools. Try to practice every day.

💡 Tip: There is a challenge called the #100DaysOfCode challenge that you can join to practice every day.  

  • Always try again. If you can't solve a problem on your first try, take a break and come back again and again until you solve it. That is the only way to learn. Learn from your mistakes and learn new approaches.
  • Learn how to research and how to find answers. Programming languages, libraries, and frameworks usually have official documentations that explain their built-in elements and tools and how you can use them. This is a precious resource that you should definitely refer to.
  • Browse Stack Overflow . This is an amazing platform. It is like an online encyclopedia of answers to common programming questions. You can find answers to existing questions and ask new questions to get help from the community.
  • Set goals. Motivation is one of the most important factors for success. Setting goals is very important to keep you focused, motivated, and enthusiastic. Once you reach your goals, set new ones that you find challenging and exciting.
  • Create projects. When you are learning how to code, applying your skills will help you to expand your knowledge and remember things better. Creating projects is the perfect way to practice and to create a portfolio that you can show to potential employers.

🔹 Basic Programming Concepts

basic-concepts

Great. If reading this article has helped you confirm that you want to learn programming, let's take your first steps.

These are some basic programming concepts that you should know:

  • Variable: a variable is a name that we assign to a value in a computer program. When we define a variable, we assign a value to a name and we allocate a space in memory to store that value. The value of a variable can be updated during the program.
  • Constant: a constant is similar to a variable. It stores a value but it cannot be modified. Once you assign a value to a constant, you cannot change it during the entire program.
  • Conditional: a conditional is a programming structure that lets developers choose what the computer should do based on a condition. If the condition is True, something will happen but if the condition is False, something different can happen.
  • Loop: a loop is a programming structure that let us run a code block (a sequence of instructions) multiple times. They are super helpful to avoid code repetition and to implement more complex functionality.
  • Function: a function helps us to avoid code repetition and to reuse our code. It is like a code block to which we assign a name but it also has some special characteristics. We can write the name of the function to run that sequence of instructions without writing them again.

💡 Tip: Functions can communicate with main programs and main programs can communicate with functions through parameters , arguments , and return statements.

  • Class: a class is used as a blueprint to define the characteristics and functionality of a type of object. Just like we have objects in our real world, we can represent objects in our programs.
  • Bug: a bug is an error in the logic or implementation of a program that results in an unexpected or incorrect output.
  • Debugging: debugging is the process of finding and fixing bugs in a program.
  • IDE: this acronym stands for Integrated Development Environment. It is a software development environment that has the most helpful tools that you will need to write computer programs such as a file editor, an explorer, a terminal, and helpful menu options.

💡 Tip: a commonly used and free IDE is Visual Studio Code , created by Microsoft.

Awesome! Now you know some of the fundamental concepts in programming. Like you learned, each programming language has a different syntax, but they all share most of these programming structures and concepts.  

🔸 Types of Programming Languages

types-of-programming-languages

Programming languages can be classified based on different criteria. If you want to learn how to code, it's important for you to learn these basic classifications:

  • High-level programming languages: they are designed to be understood by humans and they have to be converted into machine code before the computer can understand them. They are the programming languages that we commonly use. For example: JavaScript, Python, Java, C#, C++, and Kotlin.
  • Low-level programming languages: they are more difficult to understand because they are not designed for humans. They are designed to be understood and processed efficiently by machines.

Conversion into Machine Code

  • Compiled programming languages: programs written with this type of programming language are converted directly into machine code by a compiler. Examples include C, C++, Haskell, and Go.
  • Interpreted programming languages: programs written with this type of programming language rely on another program called the interpreter, which is in charge of running the code line by line. Examples include Python, JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby.

💡 Tip: according to this article on freeCodeCamp's publication:

Most programming languages can have both compiled and interpreted implementations – the language itself is not necessarily compiled or interpreted. However, for simplicity’s sake, they’re typically referred to as such.

There are other types of programming languages based on different criteria, such as:

  • Procedural programming languages
  • Functional programming languages
  • Object-oriented programming languages
  • Scripting languages
  • Logic programming languages

And the list of types of programming languages continues. This is very interesting because you can analyze the characteristics of a programming language to help you choose the right one for your project.

🔹 How to Contribute to Open Source Projects

Screen-Shot-2022-12-04-at-4.53.42-PM

Finally, you might think that coding implies sitting at a desk for many hours looking at your code without any human interaction. But let me tell you that this does not have to be true at all. You can be part of a learning community or a developer community.

Initially, when you are learning how to code, you can participate in a learning community like freeCodeCamp. This way, you will share your journey with others who are learning how to code, just like you.

Then, when you have enough skills and confidence in your knowledge, you can practice by contributing to open source projects and join developer communities.

Open source software is defined by Opensource.com as:

Software with source code that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance.

GitHub is an online platform for hosting projects with version control. There, you can find many open source projects (like freeCodeCamp ) that you can contribute to and practice your skills.

💡 Tip: many open source projects welcome first-time contributions and contributions from all skill levels. These are great opportunities to practice your skills and to contribute to real-world projects.  

Screen-Shot-2022-12-04-at-5.01.58-PM

Contributing to open source projects on GitHub is great to acquire new experience working and communicating with other developers. This is another important skill for finding a job in this field.

Screen-Shot-2022-12-04-at-5.06.54-PM

Working on a team is a great experience. I totally recommend it once you feel comfortable enough with your skills and knowledge.

You did it! You reached the end of this article. Great work. Now you know what programming is all about. Let's see a brief summary.

🔸 In Summary

  • Programming is a very powerful skill. If you learn how to code, you can make your vision come true.
  • Programming has many different applications in many different fields. You can find an application for programming in basically any field you choose.
  • Programming languages can be classified based on different criteria and they share basic concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, and functions.
  • Always set goals and take detailed notes. To succeed as a programmer, you need to be enthusiastic and consistent.

Thank you very much for reading my article. I hope you liked it and found it helpful. Now you know why you should learn how to code.

🔅 I invite you to follow me on Twitter ( @EstefaniaCassN ) and YouTube ( Coding with Estefania ) to find coding tutorials.

Developer, technical writer, and content creator @freeCodeCamp. I run the freeCodeCamp.org Español YouTube channel.

If you read this far, thank the author to show them you care. Say Thanks

Learn to code for free. freeCodeCamp's open source curriculum has helped more than 40,000 people get jobs as developers. Get started

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Computer Programming Basics  - Introduction to Computer Programming

Computer programming basics  -, introduction to computer programming, computer programming basics introduction to computer programming.

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Computer Programming Basics: Introduction to Computer Programming

Lesson 1: introduction to computer programming, introduction to programming.

Computer programming is the process of designing and writing computer programs . As a skill set, it includes a wide variety of different tasks and techniques, but our tutorials are not intended to teach you everything. Instead, they are meant to provide  basic, practical skills  to help you understand and write computer code that reflects things you see and use in the real world. 

A computer

What you need to know

Our computer programming tutorials assume that you have no programming experience whatsoever. They do, however, require basic familiarity with the use of computers and web browsers. For example, you should be comfortable downloading and opening files, and using text editing software. If you don't feel confident in those skills, consider spending some time with these tutorials first:

  • Computer Basics
  • Internet Basics

As long as you are comfortable with those basics, you should be prepared to begin learning programming. 

What these tutorials will cover

These tutorials focus on one particular type of programming:  web development . When you visit websites , whether you use a laptop, a smartphone, or anything else, you're actually looking at computer  code , which a web developer likely wrote, and which your web browser is interpreting to show you what you see on the screen. 

These tutorials will show you how to begin writing three common types of code used in web development, which combined make up the average website that you see every day: HTML , CSS , and JavaScript .

Parts of a website

Imagine that every website you visit is a person. Every person is different in how they look, act, and speak, but they're generally made up of  the same basic pieces.

If you imagine a website as a person, you can think of HTML as being the skeleton. 

A skeleton

HTML is at the center of almost everything you see on the Internet. While it doesn't look like much on its own, it forms the building blocks on top of which all the other pieces rest. The HTML for an extremely simple website might look something like this:

And if you loaded that in your browser, you'd see this:

Screenshot of a simple website

Try it yourself!

You can test some HTML yourself. Use this as a starting example:

Try entering that HTML in the input box below, then press the "View HTML" button. Make sure to  type it in exactly  as you see it.

You should see a button with the text you entered appear in the box above. It looks fairly plain, and it doesn't do anything yet, but you will learn about that later! 

Congratulations, you just wrote HTML!

If HTML is the skeleton, you can think of CSS as making up all the muscle, skin, and so on that make a person actually look like a person. 

A person

CSS doesn't do anything on its own. Instead, it takes plain HTML and styles it to look different . It can make what you see in the browser bigger or smaller, reorganize the pieces on the page, add colors, and more. Some CSS for an extremely simple website might look something like this:

If you were to apply the above CSS to the same extremely simple website you saw before, it would look like this:

Screenshot of a simple website with styling

You can test that CSS yourself. Use this as a starting example:

Try entering that snippet of CSS in the input box below, then press the "Update CSS" button. Make sure to  type it in exactly  as you see it.

You should see words in the box to the right become italicized. If you do, then congratulations! You just wrote CSS!

If HTML and CSS have combined to make a person that looks like a person, you can think of JavaScript as being the brain. Without it, a person just sits there, but with it, they are active and alive.

A person being active

JavaScript can change the HTML and CSS of a website in real time after it has loaded. It can hide things, add new things, change what things look like, and more. Any time something on a website changes while you are looking at it, there is a good chance that JavaScript is being used to do it. 

For example, imagine that you wanted the browser to create a pop-up greeting whenever somebody loaded the extremely simple website from before. One way would be to write some code that looks like this:

And when you loaded the website, you would see something like this:

Screenshot of a pop-up greeting on a simple website

You can test that JavaScript yourself. Use this code as an example:

Try entering that snippet of code in the input box below, then press the "Run Code" button. Make sure to type it in exactly as you see it.

You should see a pop-up just like in the example above, only with a different message. Congratulations, y ou just wrote JavaScript!

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Elise Williams

2024-01-31 19:37:03 • Filed to: Free PDF Tools • Proven solutions

For writing or editing documents, you may think that MS Office is the primary application you need. However, as PDF format becomes more and more widely used, a free PDF writer also become increasingly popular. There are some of the top PDF writers available both online and offline.

So how do you find the best PDF writer tool on the market for your needs? This article will help! We've covered the top 7 free PDF writer tools currently on the market, including - Wondershare PDFelement - PDF Editor , Adobe Acrobat, and so on. With these tools, you can easily write in a PDF.

What Is A PDF Writer?

A PDF writer is an easy-to-use PDF tool to create, view, edit, convert, annotate, and sign PDF documents. Compared to a PDF editor, a PDF writer is more lightweight and fundamental. Some PDF writers, such as CutePDF Writer, and bioPDF PDF Writer are primarily used for creating documents by printing; while others such as PDF Writer by PDF Pro enable you to not only convert and create PDFs but also write on PDFs (add text, annotate, markup). 

Moreover, you can get a PDF writer and editor, such as Adobe Acrobat, and Wondershare PDFelement, which are full-featured PDF tools with advanced features such as editing scanned PDFs, converting PDFs to other file formats, editing images, compressing, AI features, and more.

Best PDF Writer Free Download

Here is a list of the best PDF writer software to free download on Windows and Mac. These PDF writers allow you to edit, create, convert, compress, and sign PDF files easily and quickly.

PDFelement - PDF Writer and Editor

PDFelement is a PDF writer program compatible with Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android systems. It is currently one of the best free PDF writers for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and Mac on the market. With its professional features, you can easily:

  • Write on PDF documents, such as adding text, images, and signatures in PDF. 
  • Add notes, underline or strike out any text, and draw on PDF using the Pencil and Erase features.
  • Convert PDFs, create, combine, and organize documents with ease.
  • Perform OCR to make PDF editable. This PDF writer makes the text in PDF files (even the scanned ones) editable so that you can fix typos or make changes.
  • Protect your document from copying and editing.
  • AI tools for summarizing, proofreading, and translating PDFs. 

So, this makes it a fantastic option for your needs, and you can download this PDF writer for Windows and Mac for a free trial.

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  • Flexibility
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  • OCR feature to write on scanned PDFs
  • Convert PDF to high-quality Word, Excel, PPT, and more
  • Support of PDF translation in over 100 languages
  • The ability to easily organize and reorder PDF pages

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How to Write on a PDF For Free

One common challenge many people have with PDF files is that they are unable to make edits to the text within the PDF document. Now, follow the steps outlined below to learn how to use PDFelement as a PDF writer on Windows.

Step 1: Import and Open PDF Document

First, install and run PDFelement on your computer. After that, click the "+" button found on the Home window to locate and upload your file. Next, click the "Open" button to view the imported document.

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Step 2: Write on PDF for Free

After you have opened your PDF file, click on the "Edit" tab. Click the "Add Text" button to add new content to your file. You can also add a text box, where you want your notes to appear on the PDF document, and you can make the desired changes like changing color, size, and text box positioning. By double-clicking on the text you want, you can make all the desired changes.

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What's more, you can also draw on the PDF or add notes to a PDF under the "Comment" tab within PDFelement. It's quite easy to use, and it can help you improve your work efficiency with many useful tools.

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Step 3: Save the PDF Document

After writing a new text on your PDF document, save the edited file to your computer. Click the "File" tab found in the top left corner. Then, click the "Save" button to store your file or click "Save As" to choose a new location to save your documents.

Acrobat - Adobe PDF Writer for Mac & Windows

Acrobat is an offline PDF writer that you need to install on your PC or Mac. As a PDF writer free download to Windows and Mac, the functionality is limited to annotations and signing PDFs, and these features are available after the free trial period is over. Nevertheless, the advantage is that you can upgrade at any time to the full version, which allows PDF editing. The free version acts as a useful tool for making annotations and commenting on PDF files.

  • Polished UI with clear feature segregation
  • Easy upgrade to Acrobat DC or Pro DC
  • Get access to a mature PDF tool with lots of additional features when you upgrade
  • The free PDF writer is a downgrade from the full version
  • Upgrading to a paid subscription or perpetual license is expensive

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CutePDF Writer - Free PDF Writer for Windows

CutePDF Writer is one of the best free PDF writers for Windows 10, 8, and 7 available that allows you to export any files generated from a Windows application to a PDF file. You can export documents from their original file formats to PDF by choosing CutePDF Writer and by accessing the print menu on your computer. Supported models include Windows Vista/7/8/8.1/10.

  • Available in multiple languages
  • It's free to use
  • No watermarks
  • Installs other unsolicited software on your device

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Best PDF Writer Online for Free

Pdfescape pdf writer online.

PDFescape Online PDF Editor is also a free PDF writer online. With this PDF writer freeware, you can use the features of this free PDF writer to edit PDFs, create PDF forms, protect PDFs, and annotate PDFs. Supported models include Chrome, Firefox, Edge, IE, Opera, and Safari.

  • The comprehensive set of features
  • Produces high-quality documents
  • Offers security
  • Can't work offline

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HiPDF Free PDF Writer Online

Another great online tool from Wondershare is HiPDF , a free online PDF service that gives you all the tools you need to handle PDF workflows. You can also register and take advantage of extra features, but even the basic service includes advanced tools such as OCR.

  • Free online service - easy to access
  • No registration is required for using one-off tools
  • Extensive options for PDF editing, file conversion, annotations, security, forms, etc.
  • Requires a stable and fast Internet connection for intensive tasks or to process large files
  • Registration is required for batch processing

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Xodo PDF Writer Online

Formerly operating under the name Xodo.com, this online PDF editor has now migrated to PDF.online but it essentially contains all the same tools previously available. The service has some unique tools such as a viewer for Office files and a DICOM to PDF converter.

  • Robust conversion tools
  • Unique modules - PDF/A validator, Office files viewer, etc.
  • Simple interface, easy navigation
  • Also available for desktop and mobile
  • Limited tools - no PDF editing, OCR, security, etc.
  • Office Viewer only works with Word files

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Part 4: Which is the Best PDF Writer?

Here are the best PDF writers at a glance.

Wondershare PDFelement : Best affordable PDF writer and editor with AI features.

Adobe Acrobat : Best professional PDF writer and editor for Windows and Mac.

CutePDF : Best free PDF writer for Windows 7, 8, 10.

PDFescape : The best free PDF writer online for editing PDFs.

HiPDF : Best free PDF writer online for writing on PDFs.

Xodo : Best free PDF writer online for converting PDFs.

Choosing free PDF writers is not an easy one because it depends on your specific requirements. For instance, if you only need a platform to send documents for signing or add notes to a document, then Wondershare Document Cloud is an obvious choice. However, you should also consider several other factors, as outlined below:

  • Ease of use - One of the major factors in your decision to use a free PDF writer for Windows 10, Windows 11, macOS Monterey, and other platforms should be how easy it is to use. Are the tools clearly labeled with neat and relevant iconography? Is it easy to find a tool or is it buried in the menu? Such questions will help you gauge the usability factor, which is very important.
  • Security features - When sharing PDF files, you must be able to generate secure sharing links. With Wondershare Document Cloud, for example, the links are absolutely secure and you can even set permissions and a deadline for access to expire, making it much safer than other, similar platforms.
  • Additional tools - The right free PDF writer should also give you access to other PDF tools for conversion, security, forms management, etc.
  • Integration with desktop - Not many cloud-based tools are integrated with desktop PDF utilities. The most well-known one is Adobe Document Cloud, the other one being Wondershare Document Cloud, which is integrated with PDFelement , the desktop PDF editor from Wondershare, which we have highlighted in the next section.

Part 5: FAQs about PDF Writer

Is there a free pdf writer.

Yes, there are numerous free online PDF writers available, such as PDFescape, and HiPDF, tailored to accommodate various needs. Moreover, many of these free PDF writers also offer paid upgrades for users seeking additional premium features such as OCR, and unlimited file processing. Online tools are certainly more convenient because you don't have to install anything and you can access the service from any computer with an Internet connection and a modern browser like Chrome or Edge. However, there are also several disadvantages:

  • Security risk when uploading/downloading PDF files that are sensitive or confidential
  • Large files require a fast and stable connection
  • You'll need to log yourself in and out each time you use the service if you're using a public computer or someone else's machine

Is Acrobat writer free?

No. Adobe offers a free PDF reader to view, share, print, and annotate PDFs without any cost. However, if you need to write on PDF, you will need Adobe Acrobat, which starts at 12.99/mo.

How can I write on PDF?

To write on a PDF, you need a PDF writer. Here are different kinds of PDF writers you can choose from.

Write on PDF with a PDF editor

  • Download a PDF writer and editor, such as Adobe Acrobat, or Wondershare PDFelement.
  • Open the PDF document you want to write on. Click on the "Comment" or "Edit" tool located in the toolbar.
  • Then you can add text, modify the existing text, or markup PDF.
  • After making your edits, save the PDF with the new changes.

Write on PDF on Mac with Preview

  • Launch Preview and open a PDF file.
  • Click on the "Show Markup Toolbar" button and select the "Text" tool to add text to PDFs.

Write on PDF online

  • Open a PDF writer online, upload your PDF, add new text, or make changes to the existing content.
  • After editing, download the modified file.

Is there a Microsoft PDF writer for Windows?

Microsoft Office does not offer a PDF writer. If you don't want to purchase or install any additional extensions to write on PDF. Microsoft Word, which is included in Office 365, can be utilized as a PDF writer to make changes to existing PDF files. To do that, you have to open a PDF file in Microsoft Word, and the file will be converted to a Word document automatically. However, Microsoft Word can't write on PDF images.

While there are several scenarios where PDF writing becomes essential, the problem for the user is picking the right PDF writer. You don't want one that gives you a free service with a lot of restrictions; neither do you want a tool with very little additional functionality. For that reason, we've curated a list of the best PDF writer applications that you can try - both offline and online options have been provided.

Free Download or Buy PDFelement right now!

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EaseUS PDF Editor

An all-in-one PDF editing software to create, manage and convert PDF files easily.

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  • Convert PDF files to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, images or vice versa

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Top 8 Best Free PDF Writer for Free Download in 2022

Jane Zhou updated on Jul 20, 2023 | Home > PDF Editor Tutorials | min read

PDF has been a popular format for sharing many types of documents. If you work in an office environment, you have likely used numerous PDF files in your life.

However, you may find it difficult when you want to change the content by adding some information or notes to your current PDF files. At that time, all you need is a free   PDF writer . But how to find the best PDF writer?

Don't fret, you will know some excellent PDF reader and writer programs on this page. Here, we collected the top 8 PDF writers for free download, and will introduce each of them in detail.  

Top 1. EaseUS PDF Editor

Compatibility : Windows 10/8.1/8/7

This is an all-in-one PDF writer, creator, reader, editor, and converter for Windows users. It allows you to create a PDF from more than 10 file formats effortlessly and provides many basic and advanced editing tools to modify your PDF files, including writing on your PDF documents.

 Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7

Being a great PDF writer for Windows 10, this program lets you add/delete text, images, or hyperlinks in your PDF flexibly. Or, you are able to mark up the PDFs by highlighting, commenting, drawing shapes, etc. If needed, you even can add a password to PDF to protect it from authorized viewing. 

  • Support more than 10 common file formats
  • Allow splitting, extracting, merging, and rotating your PDF documents
  • OCR feature can make your scanned PDF editable
  • Sign your PDF digitally
  • Only available for Windows

related articles

How to Write on PDF Free?

Not able to find a reliable method on how to write on PDF? No worries!! This guide is exclusive to you. Whether it's about typing on PDF on Windows 10/Chrome, we've got you covered with hassle-free solutions for this purpose.

Write on PDF

Top 2. PDF-XChange Editor

Compatibility : Windows 

PDF-XChange Editor allows you to write on your PDF documents as you like. This free PDF writer for Windows offers a great many tools to edit the PDFs, including highlighting, inserting text, extracting images and text, etc.

Beyond that, it is worth mentioning that this freeware supports importing PDFs from your local computer, SharePoint, Google Drive, and Dropbox, then saving back to any of those cloud storage services once done. 

  • Import PDFs from both local computer and online service
  • Offer a portable version
  • Identify the text in a PDF document with OCR
  • Only compatible with Windows
  • Limited features in the free version

Free PDF writer for Windows 10

Top 3. Adobe Acrobat PDF Writer

Compatibility : Windows and Mac

You must be familiar with Adobe Acrobat, which is one of the best PDF writers for Windows and Mac. With its help, you can easily write on the PDF files, draw lines, add shapes, add comments or highlight important information with simple clicks.

In addition, this PDF writer app also performs well in PDF converting, and you can flexibly convert the PDF files to or from other file formats in a snap. So, if you want to find a PDF program that merges writing, editing, and converting, Adobe Acrobat is an excellent option.

  • Simple and clear UI
  • Offer lots of editing tools for managing PDFs
  • Different versions for different users
  • A little expensive to upgrade to the full version

free Adobe Acrobat PDF writer

Read also: Best Full Version PDF Editor Free Download

Top 4. XODO

XODO is an online PDF writer to help you write in PDF documents for free. It makes it super simple to mark up PDF documents and add annotations or comments to PDF files.

Besides, you can also use this online tool to add signatures to PDF like you would in Adobe Acrobat. If you sometimes want to convert PDF to other MS Office formats, you also can get it done in XODO, as it supports some common format conversion tasks.

  • Enable you to upload PDFs in various ways
  • Manage PDF pages with ease
  • Allow compressing PDF files for sharing via email
  • Need a good network connection

free online PDF writer

Top 5. Foxit PDF Editor

Foxit PDF Editor has been a popular PDF program for many users, and it is highly likely that you have seen these in the search results while looking for a full-version PDF writer.

With this Windows PDF writer, you cannot only view and edit your existing PDF files but also generate your own PDFs. All you need to do is send your files to this virtual PDF printer, which will turn them into nice PDF files.

  • View any of your PDF files
  • Convert your files into PDF files
  • Work efficiently
  • The latest version does not include the print-to-PDF option
  • It has too many options, especially if you are only looking for a PDF writer
  • The installer is quite large

Foxit reader and pdf writer

Top 6. Smallpdf

Compatibility : macOS and Windows (Online)

Smallpdf is one of the most popular online PDF writer tools on the market. This web-based app can add text, images, markup, or other items into your PDF documents.

Plus, you can turn any of your supported files into a PDF file. Basically, all that you need to do is find the file you want to convert to PDF, upload it to the Smallpdf site, and get an optimized PDF version of your file. All you need is a modern web browser to visit the site and get your files converted to PDF. It actually works in various browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and Opera.

  • No need to install a printer to make PDF
  • A completely cloud-based PDF writer
  • Export converted PDF to cloud storage
  • Privacy concerns as you need to upload your files to the site
  • It is not ideal for large files
  • It takes longer than other tools to generate PDFs

Small online PDF writer

Top 7. SodaPDF

SodaPDF is an online PDF writer with a host of features to let you edit your PDFs, including writing on them. With its aids, you can insert images, extract text, add forms, or do other editings to your PDF files. Well, this online PDF writing tool allows you to upload your target files from various sources,  including your computer, Dropbox, and Google Drive.

  • Upload files from multiple sources
  • Convert to and from PDF files
  • Get the results by email
  • Privacy issues as you are not sure who your files will be shared with
  • Uploading files takes too long
  • There are restrictions as to how many files you can convert in a day

SodaPDF web PDF writer

Top 8. EasePDF

EasePDF, as the name implies, is an online tool that lets you upload your non-PDF files and turn them into PDFs. It supports various file types as source files, including Word, Excel, and TXT files. You have various ways to add your files to the tool. You can either use a file from your computer or you can upload one from your cloud storage services.

EasePDF online PDF writer

  • Several source file options
  • Drag and drop interface
  • Support for many file types
  • Most users might be hesitant to upload their confidential files online
  • Does not work for all file types
  • Sometimes it generates blank PDFs

FAQs about PDF Writers

Here are some frequently asked queations related to PDF writers. Have a look at them to find an answer.

1. What is the best free PDF writer?

There are many PDF writers you can use. But if you don't want to download anything, you may try an online one. Here we give you Sejda PDF Editor, which allows you to add text, images, shapes and drawings, etc. Explore more by using it yourself.

2. Can I create a PDF for free?

The answer is yes. All you need to do is to download EaseUS PDF Editor and launch it on your computer. After that, you may click on "Create" to make a new PDF from scratch or from a file on your computer, even the file is not a PDF.

3. Which is the best PDF editor for Windows 10?

If you are using a computer on the Windows 10 system, you may try EaseUS PDF Editor as it is comprehensive and user-friendly at the same time.

If you want to turn your documents into PDFs, you can use one of the many PDF writers mentioned above. They all work pretty much the same, and you can generate as many PDFs as you want using those tools.

About the Author

author Jane Zhou

Jane is an experienced editor for EaseUS focused on tech blog writing. Familiar with all kinds of video/PDF editing and screen recording software on the market, she specializes in composing posts about recording and editing videos. All the topics she chooses are aimed at providing more instructive information to users.

Read full bio

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How-To Geek

5 great programs for editing and annotating pdfs.

Want to annotate, sign, or otherwise edit a PDF? You'll need a dedicated PDF editing program for that. Here are our favorite picks.

Read update

Checked content for accuracy. Updated PDF Architect 7 to version 8.

Quick Links

What is a pdf, what to look for in pdf editing software, best overall pdf editor: adobe acrobat pro dc, best adobe alternative: pdf architect 8, best free pdf editor: xodo, best for teams and enterprise: iskysoft pdf editor, best for annotation: pdfescape.

Creating or reading a PDF is simple enough, but if you want to edit or annotate a PDF without changing it to a different format (or disturbing its layout), you'll need to have a dedicated PDF editor on hand.

UPDATE: 9/30/21

PDF is short for Portable Document Format. The file format was created in the early 1990s by Adobe co-founder John Warnock , and was designed with two ends: to provide a standardized document type that could be read on any hardware or operating system, and to create a document type whose layout wouldn't be changed as it was viewed across these differing systems and hardware. Today, you can open and read PDFs through your browser, or by using a dedicated PDF reader or word processor, but you'll need separate software if you want to edit or annotate one.

PDF editors are a different beast than PDF readers or word processors. They're designed to handle one specific format and perform a limited number of tasks within that format. Here are the important features any good PDF editing software should have:

  • Editing Abilities:  It goes without saying that whichever program you choose should let you crack open a PDF and edit it. Whether you want to modify wording, insert and resize images, or change the order of the pages within a larger document, the best PDF editors should be able to handle whatever you throw at them.
  • Annotation Support:  The ability to allow single or collaborative annotation and markup is paramount. Good PDF editors should offer helpful annotation tools like highlighting, sticky notes, comment boxes, message stamps (like "approved" or "confidential"), or even freehand notes.
  • Security:  PDF editors should offer several security options for protecting sensitive data contained within your PDFs. In addition to simple password protection, some programs let you set access permissions, work with redaction tools, and even apply watermarks. These programs should support secure document signing as well.

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC

Since Adobe invented PDFs over 25 years ago, it stands to reason that it should also offer the best option for editing them. Adobe Acrobat Pro DC ($14.99/month) proves why it remains the industry standard for PDF management. The software is available for Windows and macOS systems, as iOS and Android apps, and as a Google Drive add-on .

Adobe makes it easy to create, edit, and sign PDFs (and track their activity) with its modern, intuitive interface. The software lets you compare two versions to spot differences, convert a PDF into several other formats, turn scanned documents into editable and searchable PDFs, and even edit on the fly on your smartphone.

The software can handle more advanced tasks, like adding watermarks, bookmarks, and headers; redacting or removing hidden sensitive information; and adding audio and video. And signing a PDF? No problem. Get real-time status updates when collecting legally binding signatures, and get certificate signatures. Adobe also handles simultaneous live collaboration for editing and annotating, stamps with messages, and comment exporting to Microsoft Word. Overall, if there's something you need to do to a PDF (and if you want to look right and stay secure), Adobe Acrobat is your best choice.

Learn more at Adobe

PDF Architect 8 with features

If you want a PDF editor that looks and works similar to Adobe without the Adobe price tag, check out PDFForge's PDF Architect 8 (Free, with paid options). With the app, you can open and read any PDF file, view two documents simultaneously for comparison, create PDFs from Microsoft documents or by scanning a document, and reorder, delete, or move pages within your PDF.

If you need more functionality than that, however, you'll need to upgrade to one of Architect's paid plans, which start at $69/year. In addition to the features of the free plan, paid plans give you additional functionality, like splitting PDFs into multiple documents, editing and moving text, changing font style and size, inserting page numbers and headers, inserting and editing media, adding watermarks, and converting your PDF to a variety of other formats. The biggest potential downside is that PDF Architect is only available in your browser and doesn't have companion mobile apps.

Learn more at PDFForge

Xodo PDF Editor

Xodo (Free) is a great option for those who need to edit a PDF but don't have the budget (or the desire to shell out) for a premium PDF editor. Despite being free, Xodo still packs a punch with its robust features and beautiful, modern interface (which is available online, and as iOS and Android apps). Xodo focuses on giving you a simple, clean functionality, instead of burying your document in a complicated and cluttered interface as many other editors do.

Xodo is a great option for signing documents, as it lets you create a signature with a stylus or your finger, and you can save it to use on additional future documents. Filling in forms is also a piece of cake---all you have to do is tap the field and type in your information. Want to annotate a PDF? Xodo's ample tools let you highlight and strike out passages, add sticky notes, underline for emphasis, and make freehand drawings. It even creates a summary list of annotations, which you can jump to simply by tapping on one.

If you need to have a real-time, collaborative workspace, it supports that as well, letting anyone with access jump into work and even chat. Once you've created your document, you can sync it with Dropbox or Google Drive, ensuring you're always working with the latest version. Easy and beautiful.

Learn more at Xodo

iSkysoft PDF Editor

iSkySoft PDF Editor (starts at $69/year) is a solid PDF editor for individuals and it offers support for businesses as well. It has competitive pricing options for small businesses, starting at $109 per user per year, which it backs with team management. iSkySoft's enterprise tier offers custom pricing for groups over 20, and it comes with dedicated tech support, user licensing management, on-demand development, and flexible deployment.

The PDF editor is available to both Windows and macOS users (but not as a mobile app), and it works in nine languages. Its rich interface gives you a Microsoft Word-like experience for easy annotating and editing. It lets you convert PDFs from or to other formats; create forms; edit the layout and text of your PDF; add, remove, and manipulate images; insert, remove, or flip pages within it, and lock them down with passwords, redaction tools, and permissions.

Should you want to annotate a PDF, you can enjoy doing so with drawing features, sticky notes, stamps, and comments at your fingertips, plus iSkySoft supports multi-user collaboration. One of iSkySoft's most impressive features is its optical character recognition technology, which identifies scanned text from another document and then turns it into an editable and searchable image-based PDF.

Learn more at iSkySoft

PDFescape

For those who will primarily be annotating PDFs rather than creating or otherwise editing them, PDFescape (Free) is a terrific program for doing so. Although its interface is far more dated than the other options, it's still fairly easy to navigate and it has all of the basic tools you'll need for annotating and lightly editing/adjusting a PDF. You can add text and images, freehand draw, whiteout or highlight existing text, add sticky notes, and add in links. It also lets you add lines, arrows, circles, rectangles, checkmarks, and strikeout text.

The basic plan gets you free online PDF annotation abilities and basic editing, as well as the ability to create forms and share your PDF documents. If you need more functionality, consider upgrading to the PDF Premium plan, which is fairly inexpensive at $5.99/month (or $2.99/month if you opt for an annual plan). This plan gives you far more editing features, if you need those in addition to annotation tools. If you want to edit existing text, download the desktop version .

Learn more at PDFescape

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Strategies for essay writing--complete.

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TOEFL iBT ®  Test

The premier test of academic English communication

Learn more by selecting any step in your TOEFL iBT ®  journey.

TOEFL ® TestReady™

No other English language test provider has a prep offering like this — designed for you, with you. TOEFL ® TestReady ™ combines the best TOEFL iBT prep offerings with exclusive features and deeper insights to enhance your English communication skills. All feedback, recommendations, personalized insights and tips are developed by the same teams that write and produce the TOEFL iBT test.

Whether you’re just embarking on your TOEFL iBT journey or aiming to boost your scores, TOEFL TestReady can help you get further, faster, with tailored study solutions for your skill level and goals.

Your Free TOEFL TestReady Account

Create or log in to your free account now to get instant access to your personalized, one-stop prep portal and explore all of the benefits TOEFL TestReady has to offer.

What’s included?

Research shows that performance in TOEFL TestReady can help you accurately predict your score on test day. The better your performance in the portal, the more likely it is for you to achieve a higher TOEFL iBT score 1 .

Free Practice Test

Practice for your TOEFL iBT test anytime, anywhere, for free, with a full-length practice test.

  • AI-powered automated scoring
  • Performance feedback for all 4 sections
  • Personalized feedback and tips for Speaking and Writing responses

Free Activity of the Day

Log in every day to challenge yourself with a free activity from one of the 4 test sections, such as a Reading passage and related questions. This activity rotates daily.

Free Tailored Study Plan

Not sure when to start preparing for the TOEFL iBT test? Answer 5 short survey questions to generate a free interactive study plan to fit your schedule and help you stay organized, track your progress and focus on the skills you need to boost.

TOEFL Practice Online (TPO) tests simulate the real TOEFL iBT testing experience.

  • Review and answer authentic test questions.
  • Receive scores and performance feedback within 24 hours.
  • Choose from volumes that include complete tests, half tests or speaking tests.

Section Tests

Practice a section in test mode and receive a score, performance feedback and additional insights.

  • Receive estimated section score and CEFR level
  • Get personalized feedback on Speaking and Writing responses
  • Review correct and incorrect answers in the Reading and Listening sections

Section Practice

Practice a complete section at your own pace and receive immediate scores, feedback and insights to help you improve.

  • Reading and Listening: learn why your response was correct/ incorrect as well as why other response options were correct/incorrect.
  • Speaking: receive feedback on speech rate, rhythm, pronunciation, grammar, and more, plus transcripts of your responses and exemplars for comparison.
  • Writing: get specific feedback on grammar, usage, mechanics and more. Includes exemplars for comparison.

Focused Practice

Boost your skills and confidence by focusing on sets of specific question types with immediate scores, feedback and insights.

Guides & Books

Best-selling guides and books to help you prepare for the TOEFL iBT test.

The Official Guide to the TOEFL iBT ® Test

This guide is a comprehensive, all-in-one reference to help you prepare for the test and get your best score. It is available in eBook and paperback formats and includes:

  • Four full-length practice tests
  • Interactive versions of all four tests, in addition to the book versions
  • valuable tips
  • scoring criteria
  • hundreds of sample questions for all four test sections

Official TOEFL iBT ® Tests, Volumes 1 & 2

Get 10 authentic, full-length TOEFL iBT tests with previous test questions. Available in paperback or eBook formats, each volume offers five practice tests and includes:

  • Interactive online versions of all five tests
  • Sample Speaking and Writing responses
  • Audio files and written transcripts for all listening passages

Learn about TOEFL iBT courses to help you prepare for your test.

Official TOEFL iBT ® Prep Course

Build the skills you need to communicate in English in an academic environment with this self-paced course. With the 6-month subscription, you’ll be able to:

  • Do in-depth lessons and activities across the 4 skills — Reading, Listening, Speaking and Writing
  • Take pre- and post-tests to help you evaluate your performance
  • Receive score ranges for the Speaking and Writing post-tests, using the same automated scoring as in the actual TOEFL iBT test

You can choose one of two options:

  • The Prep Course — standard course
  • The Prep Course PLUS — everything in the standard course, plus additional scoring and feedback, including score ranges for Speaking and Writing activities and tests, and written feedback on your Speaking responses

TOEFL ® Test Preparation: The Insider's Guide

With this free self-paced course, you can learn and practice whenever it’s most convenient for you. It includes:

  • An introduction to the test and each section
  • Short quizzes
  • Collaborative discussion boards
  • Tips from expert instructors
  • Scaled-score range for Speaking and Writing practice questions
  • Information and sample questions for the new Writing for an Academic Discussion task

Value Packs

Save money when you purchase multiple prep offerings bundled together into an expertly curated package. Find discounts on test registrations, practice tests, guides, books, additional score reports and more.

Performance Insights, Feedback and Guidance

As you engage with TOEFL TestReady prep offerings, robust AI algorithms serve up valuable information to help you maximize your score potential.

Feel confident on test day! The overwhelming majority of learners we surveyed reported that the new test prep offerings and features within TOEFL TestReady boosted their confidence, improved their skills and increased their readiness for the TOEFL iBT test 2 .

Curated Prep Recommendations

Close skill gaps and focus your time more effectively and efficiently with curated prep recommendations. Receive evolving guidance on where to focus your efforts and which prep offerings to try next based on insights drawn from your past performance.

Continuous Progress Tracking

Monitor your progress in real time with tracking of overall performance, section performance and question type performance. Your personal Insights page showcases your skill trends, as well as an estimated TOEFL iBT score and CEFR level to help you gauge your readiness.

1 Source: Statistics gathered from 765 users who also took the TOEFL iBT test (China, India, and the U.S.)

2 Source: Survey of 765 users across China, India and the U.S.

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COMMENTS

  1. PDF ACADEMIC WRITING

    Based on his courses in the Writing Program at Harvard University, Jeffrey R. Wilson's Academic Writing is a no-nonsense guide to the long and complex writing process. Packed with concrete examples, helpful visuals, and practical tips, the book is an essential guide for academic writing at the highest level. ...

  2. PDF Chapter 3 How to Write a Program

    When designing any program, consider your own programming skill. You may get a great idea for a program, but if you're a beginner with little experience, writing your program may take a long time — if you don't give up out of frus-tration first. Chapter 3: How to Write a Program 39 Portability and cross-platform issues

  3. Writing Guide with Handbook

    Writing Guide with Handbook aligns to the goals, topics, and objectives of many first-year writing and composition courses. It is organized according to relevant genres, and focuses on the writing process, effective writing practices or strategies—including graphic organizers, writing frames, and word banks to support visual learning—and conventions of usage and style. The text includes an ...

  4. PDF A Guide for Proposal Writing

    "What makes a good proposal?" A good proposal stems from a good concept. The best proposals are those to which the reviewers respond, "Of course, I wish I had thought of that!" The most important thing is a project that will benefit undergraduate education and directly improve student opportunities to learn.

  5. PDF Write your first computer program

    Review and complete the online tutorial yourself: Write your first computer program. Be sure to test it first before asking your students to complete it. Check your technology and decide if you need to troubleshoot anything in advance of your Hour of Code. One Day Before Your Hour of Code. Print one or more of the Exit Ticket examples at the ...

  6. PDF Strategies for Essay Writing

    Harvard College Writing Center 5 Asking Analytical Questions When you write an essay for a course you are taking, you are being asked not only to create a product (the essay) but, more importantly, to go through a process of thinking more deeply about a question or problem related to the course. By writing about a

  7. How to write and type on a PDF file on a PC

    Select Fill & Sign on the right side of the screen. Choose the Add Text tool, which looks like an upper-case "A" next to a lower-case "b." Click anywhere in the PDF where you'd like to add text and start typing. Once you have your additions, you can resize and edit the text blocks to make them fit the PDF.

  8. Writing Guides

    There are four principal types of writing guides: writing guides for disciplines or interdisciplinary programs; writing guides for specific courses; writing guides for specific genres of writing, such as senior theses; writing guides for General Education courses; The writing guides may be viewed online or downloaded as PDF files.

  9. PDF Teaching with Writing

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  22. PDF Along with Writing Project Four, you are required to turn in one of the

    Writing Projects, and possibly visiting a consultant at the Writing Center, write a global revision of that essay. This means that you must rethink and refine the argument, evidence, analysis, structure, and prose of the essay. If you have questions about the comments I've made on your previous Writing Projects, come see me.

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    Home - SAT Suite of Assessments | College Board

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